


Between The Gutter And The Stars

by Ladytalon



Series: The Doctors Light [16]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Drama & Romance, Earth-14, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prison, Reunion Sex, Semi-Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:18:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7867552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladytalon/pseuds/Ladytalon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A continuation of last year's Big Bang fic: <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4571934/chapters/10411866">Last Love Song</a>.  Arthur and Kimiyo are still dealing with the supervillains' exile to the planet Salvation; Arthur's PTSD goes undiagnosed and untreated, which ultimately brings about the end of their relationship despite their feelings for each other. Prison, therapy, and time help them both to heal and give their love a much-needed second wind. <b>EARTH-14</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kimiyo doesn't know what's worse - thinking Arthur was irretrievable, or having him here and knowing he wants nothing more to do with her. It feels like she's trying to breathe underwater, able to see the sunlight but prevented from actually reaching it. The waters have closed over her head, and there seems no way to break free so that she can get the air she so desperately needs. 

She hasn't seen him since the night Arthur had told her it was over between them, but she's heard plenty of rumors about criminal activity he's most likely had a hand in. Kimiyo has enough self-respect to stop herself from calling Noah and demanding the truth, or find Merlyn and ask him what he knows. Tora and Guy have been around, and have probably guessed at what Kimiyo hasn't yet admitted, but they're both too considerate to say anything about it... who would have thought that Guy _Gardner_ would refrain from harassing her about getting dumped by a supervillain?

Except he hadn't actually _dumped_ her - at least, not in the traditional sense. It might have been better if he had. She'd always thought that she would be the one to kick _him_ to the curb, especially during the early times in their relationship when his immaturity had reared its ugly head practically nonstop. It would be easier to bear if she'd simply caught him cheating on her, or even abusing his knowledge of her friends' secret identities. Kimiyo would much rather be _angry_ instead of this pervasive, debilitating sadness.

Kara finds out about their split when she shows up unannounced and discovers Kimiyo in tears one night after Arthur has refused to take her calls. "I'll hogtie the bastard and drop him into the piranha tank at the zoo," Power Girl seethes.

"No, don't," Kimiyo says, wrapping her arms around her knees and hugging them to her chest. "Just leave him alone."

"After all you went through, he thinks he can just kick you to the curb? I don't think so," her best friend says. "I can't believe that he'd pull this kind of stunt knowing about...that," she finishes weakly, not wanting to say the word 'miscarriage' out loud for some reason.

Kimiyo rubs the heel of her hand across her eyes. "That's because he doesn't know about it."

"Okay, _what_? How could he not know?"

"It never came up," she says. "Nobody gave me an instruction manual that said, 'and now is the perfect time to discuss a miscarriage with your partner!' Just... just leave it, Kara." Kimiyo glances over at wall that Arthur had somehow patched without her knowledge - she'd simply come home from work one day and it had been fixed. He'd even painted the entire wall so that it would blend in. "What did you want to talk about?"

Her best friend looks at her as if she's grown an extra head. "What?"

"Well, you came over for _something_."

"That can wait while we have revenge to plan," Kara scowls.

Kimiyo holds up her hands in the universal 'time-out' gesture. "We are not planning any such thing. I will handle it."

"Right, because you were doing suuuch a great job handling it just a few minutes ago!"

"I would've handled it just fine if you had bothered to pick up the damned phone and _called_ before zooming over here without checking if your visit was convenient for me," Kimiyo snaps at her. "Now, what the hell did you want?"

Kara gazes at her for a long moment, then sniffs loudly. "I forgot."

The absurdity of it doesn't escape her, and Kimiyo shifts from tears to laughter. "It's a good thing I love you," she finally says, wiping her eyes again. "Oh, Kara."

"I still can't believe this. You're the best thing that ever happened to him, and he goes and does _this_ ," Power Girl says. "It defies comprehension, Kimiyo, and I'm going to go beat his ass."

Kimiyo moves to sit down on the couch, hugging a loose cushion to her chest. "I can't claim to know exactly what's going on inside his head...I wish I did, Kara. Something terrible happened on Salvation and nobody's talking about it, not even J'onn. No matter how bad Arthur makes me feel, I still love him."

"So no ass-beating."

"Please."

Kara embraces her tightly. "Okay. He gets a free pass this time; _next_ time, though..."

"You can kick his ass next time," Kimiyo promises. "Just as I'll kick _yours_ if you don't stop whooshing over here without calling first."

After she leaves, Kimiyo turns to gaze over at the phone despite herself. Maybe, just _maybe_ he'd pick up if she tried to call him just one more time... and when she succeeds, she fumbles the phone in surprise upon hearing Arthur's voice. " _What do you want?_ " he asks, sounding tired. " _Why can't you just sit in front of the television and eat ice cream like a normal woman instead of harassing me?_ "

"First of all, I'm not _harassing_ anyone - I was simply trying to call you."

" _I have twenty missed calls from you, Kimiyo. It's harassment._."

"Well, if you had picked up the first time neither of us would be in this position," she replies.

Arthur sighs. _"Don't do that._ "

"Do wh-"

" _Don't smile at me. I can hear it. Look, what do you **want**?_ "

Kimiyo holds the phone away from her ear and scowls at it as if he can see her. "I need to see you."

He's quiet for several seconds. " _I don't think that's a good idea._ "

"Just off the top of my head, I can think of at least two dozen examples where your views about 'good ideas' do not match up with 90% of the population." They eventually agree to meet for lunch the following week, after a spirited verbal exchange that threatens to lift her heart because it's almost as if nothing had ever come between them.

She doesn't tell anyone about their plans, and only feels slightly guilty telling her administrative assistant that she's meeting a client for lunch in a 'meeting' that might run late. Arthur had agreed to meet her in Chicago, being that it's far enough away from either of their homes to discourage any undue familiarity. Her brain is congratulating her on this choice even as every _other_ part of Kimiyo curses her for it. She's resigned herself to the fact that Arthur will definitely not be feeling the same way, and has even chosen the day's outfit accordingly, when she looks up from checking her text messages outside the restaurant to find him staring at her.

A flush that has absolutely nothing to do with embarrassment starts to climb its way up her neck. "Oh...hi," Kimiyo says, wondering if she looks as hopelessly sex-starved as she feels. Determined to regain the upper hand when she sees the first signs of a smirk slide onto his face, she clears her throat loudly. "You're too early; we weren't supposed to meet until 11:45."

Arthur just looks at her. "You just wanted to be here first; admit it." He walks closer, and Kimiyo fiddles with her phone in an effort to disguise her reaction at having Arthur so near after several weeks without him. It's incredibly frustrating for her not to be able to simply go up and touch him, because Kimiyo's hormones are clamoring for physical contact...it doesn't necessarily have to be _sex_ , though that would certainly satisfy a particularly insistent craving. She simply wants what they should never have lost in the first place - she misses it so much that her entire body aches.

It would be a little easier if he'd shown up like she'd thought he'd might, drunk and unwashed, but Arthur has actually sobered up for the occasion and he looks so good that the whole situation seems colossally unfair. He hasn't shaved his beard or cut his hair, except for a trim and he certainly _smells_ clean enough, though there's a hint of that putrid cologne he always used to wear. "I admit nothing," Kimiyo replies, angling closer until she can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that Arthur has anointed himself with the skunk oil he only uses on official supervillain business. It's a trick the old Arthur would have pulled, and she knows he's waiting for her to say something about it.

Just like old times.

She gazes up at him, wondering if this really _is_ 'her' Arthur showing through or if he's simply going through the motions. Kimiyo also wonders if she really _cares_ which one it is because she feels so damned lonely. In the end, she decides not to mention it and gestures towards the restaurant entrance. "Shall we?"

Arthur rolls his shoulders in a shrug. "Why not." He shifts closer to her as she begins to turn and heat prickles her skin, making her give voice to an involuntary gasp. "Everything okay?"

Kimiyo turns back, fetching up against his chest. "Yes. _No._ Is it totally necessary for you to be right behind me-" she breaks off, abruptly picturing the _last_ time he was 'right behind' her, and it's extremely obvious that Arthur is thinking of it too. "Just stay back," she finishes, pretending not to notice him angling his hips so that his lower body doesn't touch her.

Lunch is going to be...interesting. _So much for the unattractive pantsuit_ , Kimiyo thinks ruefully. They're seated in a booth and of course it's back away from the main dining area and of _course_ there's nobody sitting at the table across from them. She glares at the door of the women's bathroom, silently willing someone (anyone!) to come out of there and prove that their booth isn't as secluded as it looks. Her hormones are having an absolute field day with this situation. "What can I get for you to drink?" a voice asks suddenly, cutting across her thoughts and making Kimiyo jump. "Oh-! Sorry about that, ma'am," their server says.

Being so aggressively ma'am-ed before noon makes her scowl. "Are there any other tables we could move to? I don't think this one is appropriate."

"Um..."

"She's trying to get revenge for being called Ma'am," Arthur explains. "This table is just fine, and we'll both take water."

"Um, okay. Sorry, ma'am - I mean, _sorry_..." 

He disappears, and Kimiyo drums her fingers on the table as she stares across at her lunch date. "What the hell was that."

" _That_ was you being a bitch. He doesn't know you're a doctor."

Kimiyo looks at him angrily. "That has nothing to do with-"

"Yes it does, so stop posturing. What did you want to talk about? I don't have all the time in the world to excuse myself for an entire hour when I really should be _working_ ," Arthur says snidely. "Did you tell them it was a working lunch, or did you say you were going to beg me to come back to you?"

"How dare you," she begins, only to cut herself off because (of _course!_ ) here comes their damned water. "Excuse me," Kimiyo says, standing up so quickly that the young man nearly drops their glasses trying to move out of her way. She sweeps into the restroom and locks herself in a stall, furious with him _and_ herself because of course it looks like she's trying to do just what he'd said... whatever else _had_ she been thinking they would discuss?

The door opens and Kimiyo hears the water being turned on while she sighs, reaching up to pull her hair out of its bun. She's about to fix her hair before she realizes that whomever is in the restroom with her is just leaving the water running and not washing their hands. Kimiyo unlocks the stall and steps out, coming face to face with Arthur. She begins to reprimand him for invading the ladies' room, but he stops her scolding by the simple means of shoving her back into the stall and locking the door. Arthur's mouth is abruptly covering hers while he lifts her atop the back of the toilet, pressing as close as their clothing will allow. "Kimiyo," he whispers harshly, fingers digging into her hips. 

A hysterical laugh fights to escape her throat. "Not here," she gasps, but doesn't have the will to stop him from working a hand inside the shapeless trousers she'd thought would be a sure-fire mood killer.

"Don't make me wait." Arthur flips her hair over her shoulder, bending down to bite the back of her neck as he turns her around. His fingers find her slick and aching for him, and Kimiyo stifles a moan as Arthur begins to fondle her with one hand while the other works to unbutton her pants. She struggles to help him even as she frantically rides his fingers, all the while wriggling back against the hard ridge of his erection. Her pants are yanked down to her knees and she's maneuvered into a precarious position atop the toilet seat; the sound of Arthur lowering his own zipper seems unbelievably loud and Kimiyo bites down on her bottom lip to keep quiet when he pushes inside her.

Arthur's breath is hot on her neck as he leans over her, gripping her waist for leverage. "Faster," Kimiyo pants. He obliges her readily, tightening his grasp and thrusting at an increased pace that has her mouth stretched into a silent scream. She can feel her light power roiling inside her body, but Kimiyo knows she has to control herself no matter how good he makes her feel. The effort she puts into tamping down her power effectively ruins the orgasm she was well on her way towards, making her hiss in frustration. "Artie-!"

One of his hands slides down and around her hip, fingers parting her labia and rubbing with the ease of long practice. Arthur bites her neck again, then keeps his mouth there so that she can hear his ragged breathing. He mutters something as they both hear the bathroom door opening to admit no less than five young women, and she's close to panic when he repeats himself. "Flush the _toilet_."

The sound of it effectively drowns out the noise she makes when he winds her hair around his fist and pulls on it to force her head back, curving her spine. It's something he hasn't done in years, but he clearly hasn't forgotten how Kimiyo responds to it... especially when they're in a position just like this. Arthur keeps her in place with his other hand on her hip, settling his feet farther apart and fucking her hard until she clenches around him tightly. She can't do anything but squirm helplessly as Arthur's cock rams into her. His grip on her hair tightens and she feels the muscles in his thighs jump right before he comes, the mere sound of his breath huffing into her ear as he struggles to make no noise causing more shivers of pleasure to spike through her body. 

Kimiyo's climax strikes moments after his, and she bites down on the shoulder pad of her blazer in order to avoid howling like a banshee. She's dimly aware of Arthur nuzzling the back of her neck and whispering something to her before he pulls out. "What was that?" Kimiyo asks. "Help me up."

Arthur lifts her from the rather awkward position and steadies her while Kimiyo pulls her pants back up. "I said, one of those women went to complain."

Her eyes widen. "We'll get kicked out."

"So?"

" _So_ , I like the food here and I want to eat lunch."

Arthur tilts his head towards the door. "Let's go, then."

She stares at him in consternation before simply grasping the front of his shirt and teleporting them both in the alley behind the restaurant. "Yes, let's," Kimiyo says, sounding a lot calmer than she feels. And speaking of _feelings_ , Arthur is eyeing her again. "What."

"Oh, nothing."

"It's something, so let's hear it."

Arthur looks her up and down. "That suit is fucking hideous. Come here." Before she can form a decent comeback, he's hauled her into his arms and is kissing every last ounce of rational thought right out of her head. They grab at each other as if they _hadn't_ just christened a bathroom stall in the last thirty seconds, and the only thing that saves them from another public exercise of mutual lust is a car alarm going off nearby. Arthur pulls away from her reluctantly, looking frustrated and very, very horny. "Okay, lunch it is."

"The, ah, Chicken Caprese is particularly good here," Kimiyo says. "How's my hair?"

"It screams 'just been fucked by my ex in the restroom,' but it's a good look for you." He shoves a hand down the front of his jeans to rearrange himself, grimacing at the discomfort. "You go on ahead - I'll catch up."

Kimiyo isn't particularly pleased that he's brought up their relationship status at a time like this, but she can't say anything about it because it's certainly still true. "It might be a good look for me, but Raging Asshole isn't a good look for _you_ ," she says, reaching up to smooth her hair back into a bun. "I'm going to go eat. Whether you show up or not is your business." Turning on her heel, Kimiyo walks back around to the entrance and winds her way through the restaurant until she spots their booth... and a suspicious-looking manager who is lurking outside the ladies room. She doesn't really expect him to come back in, so it's a surprise when Arthur drops into the seat across from her.

"What was so damned important that you had to call me...what was it? Thirty times?"

She folds her menu and looks over at him. "It was twenty."

"I stand corrected," Arthur says sarcastically. "What d'you want."

Kimiyo holds a finger up in a signal for him to wait, something she knows drives him wild, and watches his nostrils flare in irritation. "I'll take the Chicken Caprese," she announces. Arthur shifts his ire to their waiter because he hadn't noticed the younger man approach. "He'll take the same."

"Certainly, ma'a...I mean, we'll get that right out for you," he says, retreating quickly.

"The same," Arthur says. "Put that finger down."

Kimiyo clears her throat, and lowers her finger. "So: what do I want."

"That was the question," he agrees, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. "Let's hear it."

"You."

"...what?"

"You asked me what I wanted. I want _you_."

Arthur's expression shifts subtly. "We've been over this, Kim."

"Well, I think we need to go over it again. You're being unreasonable."

He stares at her in astonishment. " _I'm_ being...! Kimiyo, you harassed me into coming here and you can't take 'no' for an answer but _I'm_ the unreasonable one here."

"We're good together," Kimiyo points out. "You can't deny that, even after all that's happened. Whatever's going on with you is something I can help with, if you'd just _let_ me," she says, abruptly feeling so frustrated that she wants to scream. "Artie-"

It's like a security fence has lowered around him, shuttering his expression even further, and Kimiyo watches as all traces of humor are wiped from his features as if they'd never existed. She's left sharing a booth with the side of him that picks fights and drinks himself insensible; it makes her feel impossibly lonely. "I'd better go."

"Now that you've gotten what you came for? Yes, by all means - go," Kimiyo says, waving her hand towards the exit. 

He gazes at her silently before standing up, then surprises her by reaching out to place his hand against the side of her face. "Goodbye, Miko." She resists the urge to lean into the touch, and watches him walk away.

Neither one of them mentions it when he shows up at her apartment two nights later - Kimiyo simply locks the door behind him and leads him to her bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

He’d been longing for this for six months, nearly convinced that he'd never see her again, and when it actually happened it’d been nothing like he’d ever imagined. Arthur rolls onto his side and looks at the woman sleeping beside him – she looks so peaceful. She’s probably even dreaming of something that makes her happy, judging from the slight smile curving her lips. He can’t remember the last time he’s slept deeply enough to have a pleasant dream.

Arthur’s dreams aren’t dreams at all, but nightmares that keep taking him back to Salvation.

The look on their faces when he got free… Grodd hadn’t tied him as securely, for some reason. They would have all died if he’d stayed to untie them, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking about the looks on their faces when they realized he was abandoning them. Arthur isn't totally heartless, no matter what else that planet had made him into, and he _knows_ that what happened to them wasn't his fault. There's no doubt in his mind that any of the other men would have done the same and left _him_ , so there's no use in wasting time on guilt. _Yet here I am, still doing it_.

He'd love nothing more than to get his hands on Lex Luthor but even _if_ he made it past the armed security guards at LexCorp, what then? Bring out his obsolete tech and try to blast Luthor with it, all the while crossing his fingers that it still functioned properly? No, the only thing he can do is sit on his ass and wonder why Grodd had needed to restrain any of them when they'd _volunteered_. Maybe this is some sort of sign, telling him that this is just another of the things he'll never be good at.

Arthur sighs and looks over at Kimiyo again. _Speaking of things I'm not good at_. They've been separated for just under a month and were only supposed to get together to _talk_. This kind of 'talk' has happened at least three times so far, which undermines the hell out of his argument about wanting to keep her safe, but it's like neither of them can help it. He certainly can't, not when Kimiyo shows up at his door with her eyes full of the tears that he put there in the first place. It's incredibly easy to forget they're not together anymore when Arthur has her beneath him, because she's always been exactly what he's wanted - he's been in love with her for years. All he's ever wanted was for Kimiyo to love him, too, and now that she does...

He rubs a hand over his eyes and stares up at the water damage on the ceiling. It had started with that damned ugly pantsuit of hers, and she admitted later that she'd worn it to discourage both of them, but all Arthur had wanted to do was to take it off of her... and so he had. Kimiyo's probably still a little bit upset about that; she's never been much into exhibitionism. He sighs again, arching his back into a stretch that reminds him of all the parts of his body that will probably be sore in the morning since his gym membership's lapsed and he hasn't had the energy to put as much time in as he needs. Arthur doesn't have the energy to do a lot of the things he used to do, except perhaps when it comes to making love to Kimiyo Hoshi. He constantly wonders how disappointed she really is, now that he's been burnt out - how can he _not_ think about it? It had been a feeling like no other and without even realizing it, Arthur had come to depend on that... _intensity_. Sex with her has always been good, though the word 'good' is a vast understatement, but now he's painfully aware that it could be even better and he's the reason why it's not. Even with his knowledge of what their lovemaking is missing, however, Arthur can't help but seek her out. The only time he feels even remotely connected to the person he used to be is when he's in her arms... there, it's easy to block the intrusive thoughts. There, he doesn't need to drown any unwanted memories with whatever alcohol is at hand.

His body is still awash with endorphins, buzzing from his most recent contact high, and Arthur is loath to move because having Kimiyo beside him feels so nice. He curls around her against his better judgement, inhaling the scent of her hair and stroking his palm down the length of her thigh. She's so peaceful. Maybe some of that peace could rub off onto him if he just holds her tightly enough. Arthur lies next to her wondering what he's going to do about their not-quite-relationship because it seems that no matter what, he always seems to wind up hurting her whether he means to or not. This the first time she's actually tried to stay the night at his place and while he wishes she'd wake up and leave, he also doesn't want her to go... in the end, Arthur decides that he's the one who's going to have to leave.

Sliding out of bed, he bends over to kiss her temple and whisper an apology. Arthur gathers up his clothing and takes it into the living room to get dressed, nearly tripping over Kimiyo's shoes in the process. He pulls his clothing on and grabs a hooded sweatshirt before rummaging through the cabinets in search of his wallet and keys. It's a fine piece of irony that he always knew where his house key was when he didn't need to use it but now that he _does_ , he constantly misplaces the damned thing. He eases the door shut behind him and makes sure the deadbolt is locked, then heads for the nearest bus stop while he tries to remember which line is running at this time of night.

There's no one at the bus shelter besides the old drunk who always asks him for spare change, so Arthur squats down beside him and watches the man snore for a few minutes before reaching for his wallet and sliding a ten up the guy's sleeve. "Don't spend it all in one place," Arthur says, then stands up to squint at the bus schedule. Even with the glare of the streetlights on the scarred plastic, it shouldn't be this hard to read...yet another sign that his eyesight is failing due to the burnout that's left him grounded. He sighs and settles on the bench, hoping it's cleaner than it looks because he'll need to wait another thirty minutes if he wants to get anywhere close to Boston tonight.

The bus comes and goes, taking him with it, and he gets off at the stop located near the closest Greyhound station. Arthur wouldn't mind spending a few days in Central City, even if it means spending several hours on another cramped bus that smells like an armpit. He aims a kick at a nearby trash bin, cursing himself for not having the foresight to bring the tech he's been working for the past two months - that, or at least a file so that he can break into a car. Of course, he could always just break the window but these days it's nearly impossible to tell which ones have alarms.

Still...

Arthur pulls his hood up and looks around casually, trying to spot any closed circuit security systems because they seem to be on the rise as well, then slowly makes his way over to a few parked cars. Halfway across the street he pauses to scoop up a handful of rocks, trying to make it seem as though he's stopping to fix his laces. He walks past them and glances in the backs of the cars to make sure none of them have infant carriers or booster seats, then walks back on the other side of the street to find an escape route if things don't go well. Arthur slides into a patch of shadow made possible by a broken streetlamp and then throws a rock through each side window, rapid-fire in an attempt to single out which aren't protected. Incredibly, none of the four cars he's targeted have alarm systems but he waits a few seconds more to make sure the noise of breaking glass hasn't woken the inhabitants of the row houses they're parked outside.

He jogs towards the most likely candidate and draws his hands inside his sleeves to safely reach in the broken window so that he can open the door. Once that's accomplished, Arthur sweeps the glass out onto the street and gets in. This particular model has a panel securely bolted near the steering column so it'll be impossible to pull it loose and he's forced to repeat the process with the next car down the line. This time, it works and he patiently leans over to hotwire the ignition.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Kimiyo has to forcibly remind herself why she loves him when he keeps doing things like this, disappearing without a trace for days on end before suddenly showing up at her door. This time, he's left while she was asleep - in his _bed_ , of all places - and she has no clue where he's gone. Kimiyo doesn't understand his stubborn refusal to discuss Salvation, and she's stopped feeling hopeful every time he seems better because now she knows it's simply one of his 'good' days. There have been several supervillains, known to have escaped from the prison planet, who have either attempted suicide or have succeeded at ending their own lives... with each new report she comes across, Kimiyo has the fear that Arthur might be among their numbers.

She's tried to contact Noah and Lenny but despite their appreciation for all she's done, they've closed ranks and refuse to discuss Arthur. Merlyn is less than keen to talk about him as well, but she doesn't think it will take long before some sort of intervention will be planned - her main worry is that it will be too late. The only other person she can go to is the one person she's never really _talked_ to before, because why on earth would she want to gossip about Arthur with Doris Zeul?

The day she wakes up alone in his apartment is the day Kimiyo decides to reach out to his ex-girlfriend... as soon as she finishes digging through his things to find out what else he's hiding. Rummaging through Arthur's possessions isn't strictly kosher, as the saying goes, but if he's dumb enough to abandon her here than she's going to snoop to her heart's content. 

There's nothing inside the mattress that wasn't put there by the manufacturer, thank god, but there's a box shoved between the headboard and the wall with two new passports in it. Kimiyo puts the box back and opens the small closet next, narrowly escaping with her life when a pile of gadgets topples off the thin shelf above the hangers. There are more shoved behind his clothes, and she takes everything over to the bed to spread it out on the sheets... it looks as if Arthur is building new tech, but much of it is almost identical - whatever he's making, it's obviously not going well. Kimiyo sits on the edge of the bed with one of the devices in her hands, examining it closely before determining that it has to be the power source akin to the one he used to have installed in his belt. It's interesting to see how he's managed to work out how it connects to his gloves, but it's not as if she can just ask him to show her. "Maybe later," Kimiyo says softly, setting it back down and reaching over to rest her palm flat on the bed where he'd been laying next to her. "I suppose we'll have to see what the future brings."

She teleports back to her own apartment, where her children are just getting up and wandering about in search of breakfast. Kimiyo quickly puts on a robe so it won't look like she's still dressed in last night's clothes. "Good morning," she says, pulling bowls out of the cupboard and searching for the half-full boxes of cereal. "You two need to eat these first, or they'll go stale."

"Mo-ooooom," Yasu whines. "These are the gross kind!"

"Tough luck; if you didn't want to eat them, you shouldn't have picked them in the first place." She ignores her son's outraged explanation that she'd chosen the off-brand because it was cheaper. "They taste the same."

Yasu looks at her as if she's lost her mind. "If you say so."

"Are you coming to my recital tonight?" Imako asks suddenly. "You didn't forget, did you?"

Kimiyo holds back a sigh, because she certainly _has_ forgotten. "How could I forget a thing like that?" she asks. "Just tell me what time I'm supposed to be there, again, because I've lost the printout your teacher sent home." 

Imako pulls a copy out of her backpack and hands it over with a look that clearly tells Kimiyo that she's not fooling anyone. "Maybe Arthur could come with you," she says hopefully. "You could have a date!"

Glaring over at Yasu when he scoffs, Kimiyo turns back to her youngest. "I don't think that's a good idea, sweetheart."

"He doesn't come over anymore," her daughter complains. "It's not because of _us_ , is it? Did we do something wrong?"

The question takes her aback. "Of course not! Arthur...well, I suppose you could say that he's sick." Kimiyo tries to phrase it in a way that both children can understand once and for all, because her earlier attempts hadn't ended well. How in the world can she explain it when _she's_ not even sure what's happening to him? "It's hard to explain but if someone's gone for a long time, it's hard for them to get used to everything once they come back again. I think Arthur feels like he doesn't fit in anymore."

Yasu frowns and taps a spoon on the rim of his bowl. "Is it like what happened to Jake's dad, when he got kicked out of the Army? Jake said he was acting crazy, too."

"He didn't get _kicked out_ , it's called a discharge - and you shouldn't say he was crazy," she corrects automatically, then pauses as Yasu's comment really sinks in. "It's actually... a _lot_ like what happened to Jake's father, now that I think about it." She still remembers the problems the boy's family dealt with, and how the official diagnosis had been Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - there's absolutely nothing to say that Arthur isn't suffering from the exact same thing. _Perhaps I don't need to have a heart-to-heart with Giganta, after all_. She gets the kids off to school and takes a quick shower, then parks herself in front of her laptop as she does some research. Looking it up on the internet is nowhere near the same as going to a professional in a face-to-face meeting, and it is _very_ easy to misdiagnose a health issue with so much information available, but most of the symptoms listed are ones she's seen Arthur display. Avoiding any discussion concerning Salvation, the drinking, his aggressiveness... it's all there. Kimiyo has a few acquaintances who work in counseling, and she decides to leave a message for the one she deems the most trustworthy.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Lenny takes a drag from the blunt and exhales the smoke, passing it back to Arthur. "Nice. Where'd you get it?"

"Some kid in my building's got a grow house on his aunt's property upstate. One of those hippie chicks still stuck in the sixties," Arthur says, examining it before taking a drag of his own. "He probably figures it gives him an 'in' or something like that."

His friend flicks his fingers in a silent demand for the joint to be passed back. "Now _that_ is somethin' you could exploit."

"Who says I don't?" Arthur leans out over the fire escape to gaze down at the kids playing football in the alley. "So how's it going? Heard you got picked up last week; that's some pretty fast turnover."

Lenny smiles and leans back against the bricks. "There's still too many of us for them to handle...but it's not like they can make it stick without evidence, right? They know I did it, _I_ know I did it, but they can't prove a fuckin' thing. How about you?"

"Eh, things are slow." Arthur inhales deeply to pull the smoke into his lungs, then breathes it out. "Tech's not really coming together, you know? I used to be a lot better at this," he admits. "Want it back?" The other man shakes his head, so he drops the joint to the metal grating and puts it out with his shoe.

"Maybe you just need a little more time, that's all," Lenny says encouragingly. "What's Kim say?"

Arthur glares across the way at a sign advertising Big Belly Burger. "She thinks I need to see a therapist for PTSD."

"Well," Lenny says slowly, "Maybe you should."

"Fuck, not you too," Arthur snaps. "There's nothing _wrong_ with me."

"Except that there kinda _is_ , man. You're not really _you_ , if you know what I mean." Lenny glances over at him, then away again quickly. "That was one fucked up place, Artie."

_Amen to that_ , Arthur thinks. "I don't need _therapy_."

"You've needed therapy ever since you turned _five_ , you big fuckin' nerd," Lenny laughs, elbowing him in the ribs. "Just lookin' at your grade school photos proves it. Sweetest young thing to ever have a bowl-cut."

"Fuck you."

"You've made some strides in the looks department, my son, but you're not _that_ cute." He falls silent for a few moments, and then Arthur can hear Lenny's clothing rustle as he turns to face him. "You don't gotta admit it to anyone but yourself, okay? Just...just get some help. We've lost too many already since we've been back. I don't think I could stand it if we lost you, too."

Arthur keeps his eyes on the sign. "I thought you said I wasn't that cute."

"You're not. It's just that with the stupid hood ornament on your helmet, my self-esteem goes through the roof because wearing a parka suddenly looks _good_."

"You're hilarious."

Lenny makes the 'bad-dum _tiss_ ' sound. "I, uh, actually know of a few people you could talk to."

"I'm not talking about this anymore. Pick another subject, or get out," Arthur warns. Lenny obliges him by immediately talking about hockey, so Arthur has to let him ramble because he's basically asked for it. 

When his friend leaves, Arthur goes back inside to turn on the television but stares at the screen without actually seeing it. _Therapy_. He doesn't need therapy; he needs his _life_ back....and maybe a drink.

One drink turns into ten, and Arthur's just made the unwise decision to turn on the soldering iron so that he can fix his tech when Kimiyo shows up for the 'date' he's completely forgotten about. _She'll probably bring up therapy right when we're fucking so I won't just get up and walk away_ , Arthur thinks blearily, rubbing the side of his head and calling out for her to wait - he'll be right there. He ducks into the bathroom and fumbles with the container of mouthwash since she'll just leave if she smells the alcohol on his breath, then drops half a dozen pill bottles beside the sink. 

"Hey," he slurs, trying not to sway against the wall as he walks into the living room where she's waiting for him.

Kimiyo frowns at him. "Are you...?"

"Head cold," he lies. "I'll be fine. C'mere."

She comes over to put her arms around him and they go over to the couch, where Arthur begins kissing her neck and sliding a hand up her blouse. "So, no conversation tonight," Kimiyo laughs, sinking her hands into his hair and sighing with pleasure. "Oooh, right there - yes, that's nice." She wriggles beneath him and tries to unzip his pants, but he's forgotten that "whiskey dick" is a real thing that actually happens to him sometimes.

Arthur grabs her hands and lifts them above her head. "Just stay still," he says, releasing her so that he can fumble with _her_ pants. Even as drunk as he is, this is definitely something he can do until his dick starts cooperating. Kimiyo steers him by tugging on his ears and the alcohol-induced fog slowly begins to lift, but Arthur's always been content to have a mouthful of her while she doles out praise in the form of moans and hair-pulling. She's shrieking something at him and nearly falling right off the couch by the time his cock finally gets hard, so he gets it out of his pants and shoves inside her with a groan of relief.

He's too pleased at his success to realize that this places him directly over Kimiyo, and Arthur forgets that he shouldn't kiss her until it's too late and his mouth is sealed over hers. "God, you feel good," he sighs. 

Kimiyo's hands, which were enthusiastically grabbing at him just a few seconds ago, begin to push him away. "Artie- Arthur, stop, _no_...!"

"C'mon, don't do this now-"

"Get _off_ of me," she yells.

Arthur pulls out with an irritated snarl. "God _damn_ it! The hell is wrong with you?"

She's on her feet, hunting for her panties and yanking them on angrily. "I can't believe you - a _head cold_? I'm supposed to believe that? _Really_? What'd you do, chug mouthwash and hope that would hide it?" Kimiyo pulls her pants back on and shoves her feet into her pumps, looking extremely pissed off. "You're drunk, Arthur. You knew I was coming over, and you got _drunk_. Are you actively trying to sabotage us, or are you just on bad decision autopilot?"

"You're overreacting. Now get back over here, and sit on my dick before you ruin everything."

Instead of putting one of her shoes back on, Kimiyo throws it at his head. "Sit on your own dick, you asshole."

"Then get on your knees and suck it first, you goddamned bitch, because you _owe_ me," Arthur snarls back. "You come over here begging for it, then leave me with nothing after I eat you out? That's not how it works." He doesn't fully register the utter fury on her face until it's too late and her full-armed slap has knocked him off of the couch and onto the floor. " _God!_ What the _fuck_ -"

Kimiyo calmly retrieves her shoe, puts it on, then walks to the door where she doesn't even turn around to speak to him. "I've had enough of this, Arthur. You finally got what you wanted, so I hope you're happy - do not call me ever again. Do not come anywhere near my house, my children, _or_ my place of work because I will have you arrested. We're done."

She walks out and closes the door behind her quietly, but her last words are echoing in Arthur's ear's like she's slammed it instead. His mouth twists in anger as he waits for her to come back but she doesn't, and a part of him _knows_ that she's not going to change her mind because he's gone too far. She's gone, and he's left sitting on the floor half-drunk with his dick still hanging out of his pants like the loser Kimiyo had thought he was when they'd first met.

He's finally got what he wanted, and it's too damned late for him to realize that it's not what he wants at all.


	3. Chapter 3

Kimiyo walks quickly down the steps, the sound of her heels echoing in the concrete stairwell as she stares straight ahead. She doesn't know if he'll chase after her, or if she'll take it back if he does - she just needs to get out of there and she's too upset to teleport reliably. At the bottom, she looks across at the faded carpet of the 'lobby' just outside the landlord's apartment. Her feet take her slowly closer to the security door, as if even they don't _really_ want to leave...because she doesn't, but she also knows she can't stay. Not anymore. She flinches upon hearing a muted crash coming from upstairs, as if something heavy has just been thrown against a door. Arthur's landlord sticks his head out and looks at her suspiciously, so Kimiyo loses her last excuse to stay any longer - she pushes the door open and walks out.

She doesn't want to go home just yet - she'd paid the sitter in advance and knows that the young woman needs the money - and she can't go to Kara's apartment because her friend is out on a date, so Kimiyo texts Tora. Ice has always had some kind of ESP for this sort of thing and it comes through now; Tora calls her almost immediately and tells her to 'port over right away. 

Her friend takes one look at her and turns to Guy, hooking her thumb towards the kitchen. He slurps the rest of his Thai takeout into his mouth and heads for the hills, mumbling something to Tora on his way past. A box of tissues hurtles past Kimiyo's head, closely followed by a container of ice cream. "Guy! This isn't helping," Tora insists.

"Sorry, babe! Toss the ice cream back an' I'll catch it," the Honor Lantern apologizes in a stage whisper.

" _Guy_. Excuse me for just a minute, Kim," Tora says, lifting the container up and creating a layer of ice around it before setting it back on the coffee table. "Spoons please, meg elske." A glowing green ribbon drops the requested tableware into Tora's waiting hand, and she blows a kiss towards the kitchen. "Thank you."

Kimiyo watches the exchange silently, struck by the similarity between hers and Tora's relationships with the men they loved. Of course, Arthur hasn't acted like that for quite some time. She sits down on the couch and stares at her knees as Tora sits down beside her quietly. "You should've said he was home...I didn't really _need_ anything."

"You needed a friend - that counts as something," Tora says gently. "It's always nice to see you, no matter what's going on."

"I've been so busy lately. I should've made time for you; it's not fair if I only come over when there's a problem," Kimiyo sighs. 

Tora smiles and takes her hand. "We all get busy. Besides, it makes me feel like I have a purpose if you think talking to me will help. It makes me feel important...and I get all the latest gossip this way," she teases, making Kimiyo laugh.

She listens as Kimiyo tells her what happened, wincing at the outcome of it all. "Things were so much _easier_ when I couldn't stand him," Kimiyo says sadly. "It's like my entire life is wrapped around that man, and I have no idea how to detangle the mess."

"Is that so bad? If you love someone that much, of course they become a part of your life - that's just how it is."

Tora makes it sound so simple, when it feels anything _but_. "That's never who I was. I have my own identity, but it feels as though I'm being forced to change who I am...with Arthur out of the picture, maybe permanently, it's like I don't even know who I used to be. How can I change back into someone I don't even know anymore?"

"You don't have to change _back_. Just be the 'you' that's here now," her friend says. "So you don't know if you'll ever get back together with Arthur - who cares? You don't have to have all the answers right away; if you still love him, that doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you're strong enough to love even if things aren't working out. It means you have enough love in your heart to take a step back because it might mean that he'll take a step _forward_." Tora places her hands on Kimiyo's shoulders, squeezing. "Arthur loves you. He loves you so _much_ , Kimiyo. Whatever happened to him on that planet was so terrible, all he wants to do is protect you from it."

"I don't need protecting, I just need-" Kimiyo closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths. "I just need the same man who left."

"I think part of the old Arthur is definitely in there somewhere, but so much has happened that he can never be exactly the same again...just like how you can't go back to being the old _you_. You simply need to come to terms with the _new_ you, and he needs time to settle into being the new _him_." Tora embraces her, stroking Kimiyo's back as she tries not to cry. "What just happened tonight is a _good_ thing, even if it doesn't feel that way. It's going to be hard, and maybe even really _awful_ , but you can do this. If it doesn't work out, it's not because you didn't _try_."

Kimiyo clings to her friend, wondering how she's ever deserved Tora. Wondering how _anyone_ could possibly deserve her. "I think you would be a terrific therapist."

Tora just laughs and offers her the tissues. "Do you feel any better?"

She nods, wiping at her eyes. "Guy has to be the luckiest man in the Sector."

"Yes. Yes, he is. Now, how about that ice cream?"

They break open the carton after Tora dissolves the ice keeping it frozen and Kimiyo makes sure that the conversation stays firmly fixed around Tora, wanting to make sure her friend knows that she values her for more than just the occasional bout of validation and relationship advice. Tora realizes what she's doing and gently scolds her for it, forcing her to talk about the children. Guy is given clearance to return, and his hug nearly bowls Kimiyo over; he immediately settles beside Tora and steals her spoon, and Ice gives him a fond smile as she lets him do it. Plans are made for another trip to the pizza place before Kimiyo takes her leave, apologizing yet again for the interruption and thanking them for listening. She has no doubt that Tora will fill Guy in on everything, which she doesn't mind because it's the same thing she and Arthur have always done... _had_ always done. 

She returns home and reassures the sitter that she doesn't want any money back, but sends the girl on her way since the children are already in bed. Her feet take her to the nightstand that hasn't been used in a while and Kimiyo gazes at it, closing her eyes and picturing the small blanket folded neatly inside. She's long since memorized the pattern of lightbulbs with their tiny heart-shaped filaments, purchased with such love and hope, but opens the drawer anyway. Tora's words of wisdom seem far away, and she draws in a shaking breath as she struggles to make herself believe that this pain might actually be _worth_ it someday.

Kimiyo nudges the drawer closed with her toes, and goes out through the back door to stand in the dark. The night folds itself around her, broken only by the occasional wail of a siren and laughter from her neighbors, who are having a party. It's strangely reassuring to her that life still goes on no matter how depressing _hers_ becomes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Arthur hadn't quite known what to do after she'd left him - really _left_ him this time. He'd thrown a few things around and trashed a perfectly good coffee table because his temper had gotten the best of him, then he'd decided he couldn't stay there a minute longer.

The drive to Central City had been uneventful, if frightfully long and depressing since Arthur had spent most of the time wishing he was still with Kimiyo. Lenny had gotten one look at him and ordered him into the spare bedroom to get some sleep, with a strict injunction to stay there until Angie left for work, but when he opens his eyes it's mid-day and she's standing right beside the bed looking at him. "You know, I could do something about all that hair," Angie tells him. "You're beginning to look like one of the Muppets."  
"Good morning," he yawns, sitting up and reaching for his shirt. "Which Muppet am I, exactly?"

She frowns at him. "The one who looks like a ball of fur, and plays guitar. Animal."

"Animal plays the _drums_. I thought you were at work."

Angie shakes her head and surprises him by sitting down on the edge of the bed. "No, I switched shifts with another girl who needed to leave by three. Arthur, I need to talk to you about something," she says quietly. "There's a few things I gotta say."

What the hell? Since when does she want to talk to him for more than two seconds at a time? "I guess," Arthur says, wondering what she could possibly want. "I'm not the best person to complain to about Lenny, though, he hasn't listened to me for years."

"It's nothin' about Len... it's you, and I need you to be respectful and _listen_ ," Angie says.

"Uh... okay? I'm not going to be staying here, if that's what you're worried about."

"That's good, because you're not welcome here any more," Angie tells him firmly. "Kimiyo showed me what a real friend was, helpin' out to make sure I could make rent and giving me a call because she knew I was havin' a rough time without Lenny around - I paid her back, so don't worry about that - but she treated me like a real _person_. Didn't matter to Kim what I used to do for a living."

Arthur opens his mouth to ask what the hell that has to do with anything, but she holds up a hand for him to stay silent. "I'm not done, Arthur. I try not to judge, especially 'cause of the crowd Len runs with, but the way you treat her just ain't right - I was the first person she told when she came up pregnant, and you _can't_ just-"

"Whoa - I don't know _what_ your problem is, but Kimiyo isn't pregnant," Arthur says angrily. Just what does Angie think she's trying to pull?

The woman's eyes widen and she claps her hands over her mouth, looking so shocked that Arthur feels a twinge of foreboding. "Oh, no. Oh, _God_ \- you didn't know. Oh, oh, oh... oh, Jesus. I'm so _sorry_ , Artie, I never thought you didn't _know!_ "

"I didn't know... what?" Arthur demands, feeling his nails bite into his palms as his fingers curl into white-knuckled fists. Surely... surely she doesn't mean what it's beginning to sound like. "I didn't know _what?_ " he yells, coming out of the bed so quickly that Angie falls back against the wall trying to get out of his way.

Angie starts crying. "The... the baby. Kimiyo lost the baby."

The world tilts, and Arthur's legs can no longer hold him. He crashes back down on the bed, raising shaking hands to his forehead. The blanket in the bedside table - it had been for the baby. _Their_ baby. Why hadn't she _told_ him? 

He was supposed to be a father.

"How, uh... I mean, _when_ did...?"

She wipes at her eyes, still crying. "I think she said it happened at eleven weeks? I ain't sure, eleven or twelve, somethin' around there." Angie tells him something else along the lines of letting him stay as long as he needs, trying to fill the silence with more apologies he doesn't even hear.

"I should go," Arthur says, his voice sounding as hollow as he feels. There's a tightness in his chest that's suddenly appeared upon hearing her words - he feels as if his limbs have turned to lead and as if he's disconnected to his own body, all at the same time. "Yes, I'm going to... I need to go."

Angie tries to stop him, probably feeling guilty, but all he can think of is how he hadn't known. Kimiyo had been carrying his child, and had endured the loss without him; they'd made a _child_ together. Somehow he finds himself outside in the street, but with no idea where he should go. Arthur knows where he _wants_ to go but he can't bring himself to face Kimiyo - not now, not after the way he's treated her. She'd dealt with a miscarriage and he'd come back only to push her away when she'd probably needed him the most. He sinks into a crouch right there on the sidewalk, feeling his pulse thud in his ears as the panic begins to rise. _Merlyn._ He could go to Merlyn.

Arthur pulls himself upright and starts walking, wondering how he can possibly make it to Star City under his own power, but it seems as though Angie had been watching him out of the window because Eobard slides to a stop right beside him. "Nnnnneed aliftsomewherrrrre?" his friend asks.

"Merlyn." he forces the words out, hoping he won't lose it right there in front of Reverse Flash.

Eobard cocks his head to the side, then nods and grabs him up without a word. Seconds later he's deposited on Merlyn's doorstep and the neatly trimmed bushes rustle in the wind of the speedster's passage as he goes back the way he came. Arthur draws in a shuddering breath and knocks.

Merlyn comes to the door, looking irritated until he recognizes Arthur. "Get in here _now_ ," he orders, pulling Arthur in and slamming the door closed again. "Arthur, what _happened?_ "

He opens his mouth to answer, but this is moment that the tears finally come. "I...I..." Arthur's knees start to buckle and Merlyn lunges to try and catch him, so they both end up on the floor and all Arthur can do is press his face into Merlyn's chest, shaking. The archer strokes his hair and presses kisses to the top of his head, rocking Arthur as if he's an oversized child.

"I've got you, love," Merlyn soothes. "I've got you."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Kimiyo fields the phone call from an apologetic Angie, and she stands staring off into the distance after she hangs up. She supposes that it couldn't have been helped, but what really surprises her is that _Angie_ had been the one to tell him. It would have been nice if Arthur had come to talk to her about it immediately, because her friend had made it clear how distraught he'd been upon learning of Kimiyo's miscarriage. Arthur is either drinking himself into a coma this very instant, or he's gone to Merlyn for comfort. She knows him well enough by now to know that he won't seek out an ex-girlfriend for something like this... no, it will have to be Merlyn, and the comfort he wants will evolve from just a simple embrace.

She can't really blame him, or even be angry, because if you're not _with_ someone you relinquish your right to fidelity. In a way, Kimiyo supposes that it's a comfort that Merlyn needs as well and she won't gainsay it even if the thought of Arthur with anyone else makes her chest ache. She takes several deep breaths to calm herself and returns to the quarterly reports in need of review, wishing that life didn't have to hurt so much. 

The day passes and Kimiyo manages to keep from thinking about her troubles until it's time to return home and get dinner ready for the kids. The doorbell rings when she's putting the potatoes on to boil, and something tells her that she might just want to bring a knife to the door with her. Kimiyo folds it into a clean dishtowel and checks through the window, feeling her mood sour even further when she recognizes who's on the other side of the door. She opens the door and shifts her grip on the towel. "Come to gloat, Merlyn?"

"That question is beneath you," the assassin says mildly, his eyes darting to take in every detail of her appearance. "A _knife?_ Really, Doctor Hoshi!"

She raises her eyebrows at him. "You must have a lot of experience with women hiding knives in their towels by _now_. Why are you here? I'm busy."

"Is it just dinner that you are busy with?" Merlyn counters, shifting slightly to gaze past her into the apartment.

"I don't have time to play word games, Merlyn. What do you _want_."

Like every other villain she's ever known, he looks extremely put out because she's not indulging him in banter. What is it about supervillains and their love of banter? "Arthur left my house several hours ago, still very upset. Is he here?"

Kimiyo glares, wondering if this is a dig at her for not revealing the miscarriage sooner. If it is, then he can go straight to hell. However, if it's _not_... "No. Arthur was warned not to come here unless he wanted to be arrested for stalking." In this case, she wouldn't've actually called the police and Arthur should have known that. 

"So if he's not with _you_...oh," Merlyn says, his eyes widening in realization. "Oh, _fuck_ \- pardon my French - I have to find him before...oh, why is he _like_ this?!?"

"Do you know where he went?" Kimiyo interrupts.

Merlyn blurts out the story, nearly stuttering in his haste, and she doesn't think she's ever seen him lose his cool like this when Oliver Queen wasn't within a twelve block radius. Arthur had come to him, distraught over something he'd learned about Kimiyo and had left shortly thereafter, convinced that he was going to find who was 'responsible.' Given that he'd been upset over something that had to do with Kimiyo, Merlyn had naturally assumed that Arthur was going back to her. "...but if he's not here, that means he could be headed to either Waller or the President," Merlyn finishes, tapping his fingers on his temples as he tries to think of where their mutual acquaintance could possibly be.

"He's stupid, but he's not _that_ stupid," Kimiyo says drily. "If he's going after someone, it's probably going to be Lex Luthor." She suggests that he come in while she turns the stove burners off, waiting while he calls Noah about it. "I can teleport you in, then you're on your own."

"But you two-"

"-are no longer 'we two.' You're on your own and so is _he_ ," Kimiyo says, not meaning a word of it. If by any miracle they can reach him in time, she fully intends to haul Arthur out of there by his ear and drop him into the nearest freezing body of water. Maybe the idiot will catch such a severe case of the flu that he'll finally come to what's left of his senses.

Merlyn gives her a look as if he knows exactly what she's thinking, and digs his cell out of his belt. Kimiyo pretends not to be listening in as she slaps a lid on the pan. "He doesn't know for certain, but there's some activity around the LexMart distribution hub in southeastern-"

"I know where that is," she interrupts.

"Stop interrupting me! Your manners are _atrocious_ -"

Kimiyo interrupts him yet again by seizing his arm and teleporting them both across the road of the huge LexMart distribution center. Merlyn scowls and when he turns away to search for a way across, she bends the light to render herself invisible. "... _made_ for each other," the archer grumbles irritably when he discovers that she's gone.

She can hear sirens in the distance and gunfire much, much closer - hoping she's not too late, Kimiyo flies closer...only to find that it's not Arthur at all but a disgruntled employee who's decided to take matters into his own hands. She throws a shield of light around him and, when the man halts in confusion, superheats the air molecules around the gun so that he yells in pain and drops it. "Doctor _Light_?" one of the other men exclaim, looking cautiously out. " _Thank_ you; he said he was gonna kill us all-"

"Is everyone all right?" Kimiyo asks, cutting the man's gratitude short. "Any injuries?"

The general consensus was that the gunman had simply been firing wildly into the air, but she's forced to stay to greet the police cars which squeal into the parking lot far too late. The gunman gets handed off to them, and Kimiyo gives a statement to one of the lieutenants before she can leave. She has no idea where Merlyn has gotten to, but since he's a big boy who can take care of himself she teleports back home. The children are already home, and Kimiyo slides back into the comfort of her routine as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

She doesn't discover anything new about Arthur until she turns on the nightly news and sees that he's been arrested for the attempted murder of Lex Luthor.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

There's a strange feeling of relief that comes over him during the booking process; Arthur's been through it so many times, it's like his body's on autopilot. His hands stretch out for the inkpad, rolling the fingers one by one on the clean white paper - the officers don't even bother to direct him, because he knows which prints go where. His feet take him just behind the strip of electrical tape on the floor, and he holds up the sign board listing his name and prisoner number. He turns to the side, waits for the flash, follows another officer to a holding cell.

He's offered a phone call, a courtesy that's not always extended, and stares down the hall towards the trio of black phones mounted on the brick. Arthur briefly considers calling Kimiyo before he remembers he's already burned _that_ bridge, and shakes his head silently. The door swings shut, and is locked automatically. "Too bad you didn't get the asshole," the officer whispers as she unlocks the cuffs around his wrists. Arthur draws his arms back through the gap in the bars without saying a word.

Arthur tilts his head back and stares at the ceiling, replaying his failure - there's no use trying to think of what had gone wrong, because _all_ of it had. He'd been stupid beyond belief to go there in the first place, fueled by pained rage and alcohol, and actually expect to accomplish anything. No, what he _should_ have done was to figure out a way to hit Luthor in a way that would truly hurt him; in the bastard's bottom line. Of course, he'll have nothing but time to plan his revenge...but not today.

He gets an uneasy night's sleep atop the thin mattress, refuses the tray that's offered through the horizontal slot in the bars, and spends the rest of the day being shunted from one holding area to another before finally being assigned to - where else? - Belle Reve Penitentiary. Technically he's supposed to be held in County until his arraignment, but the justice system has always played fast and loose with people like him. By now, everyone with a functional pair of ears has heard of his burnout, so his lockup assignment in a Super Max doesn't make much sense unless Amanda Waller has finally decided to rid the world of him. Arthur isn't really in the mood to argue with her decision.

He's fitted for a collar despite the fact that he doesn't need it anymore, and is deemed a fit cellmate for Jeremy Tell. Double Down stares at him incredulously as Arthur walks past him to drop his clothes on the bottom bunk. "I'll be _damned_ , look who it is-"

"Shut it, Tell," his armed escort orders. "Count runs at 9:30; lights out at ten."

The guard leaves, and Tell scoots into the cell with him. "Hey, man - back again, huh?"

"Yes," Arthur says quietly, putting his things away and sitting down on the bed. The other man immediately sits down beside him, but moves when Arthur stares at him for it.

"Bubble space; sure, yeah...so...what's with the collar?" Jeremy asks. "I thought you didn't need it."

"I don't."

Double Down scratches the top of his head. "Okay, man. You wanna play some cards or something?"

Arthur gives him a flat, unfriendly look. "No." His cellmate lifts his hands in surrender and scoots out of their shared accommodations, muttering about touchiness. Arthur sighs and stretches out on the thin mattress, ignoring the twinge of pain in his joints and trying not to think about how angry Kimiyo probably is. If she were there, she'd probably slap him clear into another time zone. The thought makes him roll onto his side to face the wall, closing his eyes and banishing her memory so that he can concentrate on the low whine of the collar locked around his neck.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

She tells herself to stay away from the courthouse during the trial...but then again, there isn't even a trial because Arthur pleads no contest to attempted second-degree murder charges. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Amanda Waller's snapped him up, but Kimiyo can't quite figure out _why_. The sentencing keeps getting postponed for one reason or another and she can't keep away when it's finally scheduled, because she hasn't seen him for nearly three months.

Kimiyo slips into the courtroom and takes a seat - Lex Luthor hasn't even bothered to show up; the bastard's probably too busy ruining someone else's life. Arthur's lawyer is already there, flipping through a thick folder when she looks up to see Kimiyo watching her. With a quick glance at her watch, the other woman motions her over to the bar. "Thanks for coming," she murmurs to Kimiyo. "He should be in soon; there's been some trouble down in Holding, but I'll see if I can't get you a few moments before the judge comes out."

"Thank you. Ellie, do you have any idea how long...?"

The lawyer suddenly looks embarrassed. "Kimiyo, I know we've discussed his cases in the past but I can no longer do that. I'm so sorry, I thought you knew."

"Knew what? What's going on?"

Ellie bites her lip and won't meet her eyes. "He rescinded permission to share privileged details with you. I'm sorry," she repeats.

"Oh." Kimiyo forces a smile. "No, it's...it's fine. Really."

"I really did think he informed you."

Kimiyo takes a deep breath. "I'm sure he would have, but Belle Reve keeps telling me his paperwork for visitation is still in process...for the last three months." She's also sent letters, but has since come to wonder if he's actually received them.

"It doesn't take three months for that to get lined up, even in Louisiana," Ellie says drily. "I'm still not sure how he ended up there."

_That's okay,_ Kimiyo thinks, _because I certainly do._ "Yes, it's a mystery to us all." She wonders if he blames her for not coming to see him. "There's no pressure if he doesn't want to see me...actually, it might be better if you didn't tell him that I'm here at all."

"Without violating any confidentiality...he doesn't look good, Kim. I just want you to be prepared for that, okay? Oh, I've gotta go - here comes the bailiff." They say goodbye hurriedly, and Kimiyo returns to her seat. The various officers of the court come in, and so does Arthur. Despite Ellie's warning, Kimiyo is shocked by her love's appearance - he looks absolutely terrible. His hair looks like it hasn't seen a comb since he was first arrested, his skin has taken on a sickly tinge, and he's lost even more weight. Her heart lurches when he lifts his head slightly and glances up at the gallery, but Arthur's eyes slide right over her as if he doesn't even see her.

Ellie leans in to speak with him and his head turns briefly before he shakes his head. Arthur looks back at the gallery again after his lawyer says something else, and Kimiyo stares silently at the way his eyes are narrowed as they scan from left to right before he turns back around. Once again, it's like he can't recognize her; Ellie speaks to him once more before turning back to Kimiyo and motioning to her. Only the court reporter has fully settled in yet, so she goes up to the bar. "Arthur," Kimiyo says softly.

His shoulders stiffen. "I'm not your problem any more."

"Waller's playing hide-and-seek with the visitation paperwork."

"How convenient for you. Go home, Kimiyo. I don't want you here."

"Artie-"

"Go _home_."

Ellie turns and makes the 'call you later' signal with her free hand. "My client would like you to step back, Doctor."

To Kimiyo's shame, tears begin to fill her eyes. "Of course," she says shakily. "Arthur? _Aishiteru wa_."

He flinches as if she's just struck him between the shoulder blades. " _Go._

She goes.

When Ellie calls her an hour later to relay his sentence, Kimiyo listens silently and hangs up the phone without saying another word. What can you say, after all, when the man you love has just been sentenced to ten years in prison?


	4. Chapter 4

The days crawl past until the next major holiday arrives, at which point Arthur realizes that he's been in Belle Reve for six full months. He has yet to be granted yard, library, or even visitation privileges, though he has no idea who would want to come see him here. The small cell becomes his home, and Arthur stops leaving it if he's not forced to the cafeteria with everyone else or standing just outside for the twice-daily count. He'd even skip his shower rotation if he could, but knows just what a bad idea that is.

Tell learns to just not bother talking to him anymore because he never answers, trying to get by without speaking to anyone at all because speech is an effort he's simply too tired to make. When he's had enough of being forced out amongst the other men, Arthur waits until mealtime and simply dumps the food from his tray onto the floor, then puts all his strength into hitting the nearest guard alongside the head with it. The entire cafeteria is filled with laughter, shouts, and whoops as his collar is activated. The guards drag him off to Solitary, and Arthur is finally able to be alone. He stays in the bunk and sleeps, only rousing to take care of various bodily needs, and the deafening silence folds around him like a blanket.

He loses track of time because he doesn't bother counting how many times the trays of food arrive, and they don't bother turning the lights off. It seems as though only a handful of days go by before the guards haul him out of the cell, and into Waller's office. "You've always been a pain in the ass, Light," The Wall says, not even bothering to look up at him. "I gave you a free pass, yet here you are again. I ask you; what is the use of genius-level intelligence if you don't have the common sense God gave a grasshopper?"

When he doesn't answer, she places one of her remote controls on the desk and taps a button. Arthur jerks in pain as the collar shocks him. "What do you _want_ from me."

"Task Force X has an upcoming mission, and I want you well enough to participate - no more of this sleeping at all hours of the day. Belle Reve has counseling programs, and I expect you to use them if you don't want your sentence extended six more years for assaulting a correctional officer."

Arthur looks across the desk at her. "My tech doesn't work, and neither does my metagene." His eyesight is also failing more rapidly with each passing day, but he doesn't mention it.

"Metagenes don't disappear overnight," Waller says, finally looking up from her paperwork. "How can I be sure you won't escape if that collar gets taken off? No, it's better for us all if I can zap you anytime I choose."

He pushes at the fog that seems to be closing in around him now that the shock's effects have dwindled. "What's the mission?"

"Your skill-set will come in handy for it. That's all you need to know for now...but if you refuse counseling, your skinny ass will stay in that cell for the next sixteen years - is that clear? Good," Waller says without waiting for a reply, "Now get out of here and stop hitting the guards just because you want a little 'me' time." Arthur turns to go, and Waller instructs the guard to take him to the warden.

The warden gives him a variation of Waller's lecture, then reaches into a desk drawer and withdraws two thick stacks of letters held together with rubber bands. "Seems you're real popular with someone in Star City. Waller's advised me to keep the bulk of these as an added incentive...you go to a therapy session and cooperate, you get _one_ of these. Run out of letters, maybe we'll figure out where that visitation paperwork went...fuck up just once, you get out of here on your sixty-second birthday and not a day before. Got it?"

Arthur forces himself to nod and then, when the warden continues to look at him expectantly, says, "Yes, boss."

"Good." The other man thumbs through the letters, takes a look at his desk calendar, then selects one and slides it over. "Next time you get a wild hair and decide to kill Lex Luthor...do us all a favor and _don't miss_."

He's taken back to the cell he'd been sharing with Double Down, and Jeremy's eyes widen at the sight of him. "Damn, seems like they kept you forever - how was it, man?"

Arthur runs his fingers around the creased edges of the envelope. "It was quiet."

He waits until Tell drifts out of the cell before lifting the letter and looking at it; there’s no return address, but he can recognize the handwriting just fine. The postmark shows that Kimiyo sent it just after he was shipped off to Terrebonne Parish and he brushes a finger over his inmate number. To avoid confusion in the prison system, their numbers are always the same no matter where they’re incarcerated…and Kimiyo still remembers what his is. The crease on one end has been snipped off so that the guards can check inside for contraband, and he knows for a fact that they read the letters (sometimes even photocopying them so that they can blackmail the inmates), but Arthur always likes to pretend that he’s the first one to read them. He eases the letter out and rubs at his temple, half-wishing he’s still in Solitary where nobody will bother him, then unfolds the paper.

Kimiyo has never written about anything very personal because she knows that eyes other than his will read what she puts down on the paper, but not this time. This time, she’s written to tell him everything he should’ve gone to her and asked concerning the miscarriage. Tears blur his vision and Arthur drags his arm across his eyes, reading and re-reading all she has to say about what would have been their child. If only he’d _been_ there for her.

He reads the letter three more times, then folds it up with trembling hands and slides it into his shirt for safekeeping. All he wants now, after months of numbness, is to be able to see her just once more. Just once; for that, Arthur thinks, he would do anything...even therapy. She'd wanted him to go before, so he knows Kimiyo would approve. She would probably even say that she was proud of him, and how long has it been since she's said anything like that and he's known she was actually telling the truth?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Imako comes racing into the house with the mail clutched in her hands. "Mommy - _Mommy!_ Look what came!"

"The mail comes almost every day, sweetheart," Kimiyo says absently. "Just put it on the counter, please. Where's your brother? We're going out to eat with Tora and Guy tonight."

"He's coming, but _Mommy-_ "

"Go get your homework out so we don't have to rush tomorrow morning, okay? Thank you," she calls out to her daughter's retreating form. Kimiyo shakes her head with a fond smile, then reaches for the mail - whenever they get a toy catalog, Imako goes totally berserk about it. There's the standard junk mail, sales circulars for grocery stores she'll set aside to study later, and a letter from Inmate 06121962. The breath leaves her lungs as she sits down heavily, barely able to open the envelope for fear of ripping it.

It's nearly been a year since Kimiyo has heard anything from him, even though she's been sending one letter per week. She finally gets the envelope open to see that there are two sheets of paper inside - one is a letter, and the other...she wipes away her tears upon seeing that it's a photocopy of a certificate Arthur had been awarded upon successful completion of a counseling course. She sets it aside and the children, who have gathered around her to see what's going on, pounce on it immediately. She reads the letter several times before closing her eyes and pressing it to her chest.

"Mom?" Yasu asks worriedly. "Is everything okay? Did something happen?"

Kimiyo opens her eyes, smiling through her tears. "Yes. I think everything will be just fine."

"It _was_ from him, wasn't it! Did he say anything about us?" Imako demands as Yasu goes back to looking like he doesn't really care. "Was he mean to you, is that why you're crying?"

She laughs, and digs through her purse for a tissue. "Yes, the letter is from Arthur and he says thank you for the pictures you drew for him...see right here?" Kimiyo shows her the letter, pointing out the appropriate line. "He says he's very sorry for causing so much trouble, and asks if I would come to visit him."

"Can I go, too?"

"Not right away, honey, but I'm not sure what the rules are. We'll see, okay?"

Imako smiles and nods, then shoves her homework in Kimiyo's face. "It's multiplici...multip... _this_ , I can't say that word. Could you help me please, Mommy?"

"Absolutely. Just give me a minute, okay? I'll be right back." Kimiyo caresses the top of her daughter's head and touches Yasu's shoulder on her way past. She goes into her bedroom to read Arthur's letter one more time, then carefully places it inside the bedside drawer atop the baby blanket. When she's fully in control of herself once more, Kimiyo goes back out and helps the kids with their homework. The long-held suspicion that her letters had been kept from him has become certainty; why else would it have taken him this long to respond? She picks up the phone and dials the prison as she's done twice a month, and the bored-sounding guard confirms that Arthur is now able to receive visitors - the 'misplaced' paperwork has miraculously been found. Kimiyo jots down the visitation dates and times, which have changed since the last time she's been there and then hangs up, looking at the schedule thoughtfully. Something tells her that the timing of Arthur's letter and the sudden reinstatement of visitation privileges isn't a coincidence... she gets up and goes back into her bedroom to look at date on the certificate.

Amanda Waller had asked her the truth about the 'accident' involving that helicopter and, like a fool who thought she had nothing to lose, Kimiyo had told her. Waller's gotten her revenge on both of them for it by cutting off access to each other, which makes Kimiyo furious but also strangely _thankful_. If she hadn't, who knows what their relationship might be right now? If she hadn't, would Arthur have even accepted the counseling in the first place? Kimiyo sighs, wondering why anyone in Belle Reve would even care for his mental well-being unless, of course, the Suicide Squad had a mission for which he'd prove invaluable. She can definitely see Waller taking that route, which means that she'd better make sure she's able to talk to Arthur face-to-face before he's hauled into Waller's game of roulette.

Kimiyo's still thinking about it when they meet Tora and Guy at the restaurant, but makes a herculean effort to push it from her mind. She's debating bringing it up when Tora shoves her left hand into Kimiyo's face. "Look at this," Ice cries, and Kimiyo shrieks aloud at the sight of an engagement ring on her friend's finger.

"Oh, my God! Oh, _congratulations_ ," she yells, throwing one arm around Tora and reaching out for Guy using the other. "This is just... wow, _when?_ Tell me everything!"

Tora laughs and hugs her back. "He proposed last night, and it was so _romantic_ you just wouldn't believe it..." she tells them the story - Imako and Yasu are patently thrilled, but Yasu loses interest halfway through and wanders off to the bathroom - and Kimiyo claps delightedly. With news such as this, there's no way she can let herself believe that Arthur won't be able to handle whatever Waller throws at him.

"I'm so happy for you," Kimiyo says sincerely. "Seriously, this is such good news."

The couple can't keep from smiling, and their joy is infectious - while she doesn't believe in omens, Kimiyo knows that this is a definite sign that things are looking up. _It's about damned time, too,_ she thinks. "Mommy has good news too; Arthur sent a letter!" Imako says before Kimiyo can hush her.

"No way - how's he doin'?" Guy asks immediately.

"I think he's doing much better...but enough about that, tell me more about you two! Have you set a date yet? Did you choose a venue? Who've you told so far? I hope Bea isn't giving you too much grief," Kimiyo says. 

Tora gazes at her intently. "What time will you be home from work tomorrow, six? I'm going to come over and get the whole story from you...we haven't really discussed dates yet, but I don't think it'll be in summer. It'd be nice to either have the wedding on Oa, or up on the satellite."

"Be awesome if we had two of 'em, babe - one here, one there," Guy suggests.

"That's not a bad idea at all!"

"See, baby? I got good ideas," he brags.

Tora laughs and rubs her hand over his back. "I never thought you didn't, _meg elske_."

Kimiyo can't resist teasing her friend about this. "Oh, I seem to remember plenty of times when you told me otherwise! Remember that time in the embassy..."

The evening ends on a high note, and she feels like laughing aloud from sheer joy - one of her best friends is engaged to be married, and Arthur is slowly but surely finding his way back to himself. In the past, Kimiyo wouldn't allow herself to feel so hopeful because of the chances of it all crumbling around her...she just can't force herself to be anything but happy.


	5. Chapter 5

Learning to reintegrate himself back into prison 'society' hasn't been easy, but he's managed to secure a spot quite a few rungs higher on the ladder somehow. Except 'somehow' isn't quite the word for it, because Arthur knows exactly what's happened - he's always been fairly easygoing, and quick to back down from any sort of disagreement that could potentially turn violent. Exile on Salvation has changed the default wiring of his fight or flight response, so that running is now the last thing on his mind. Any problems not able to be solved with his fists are remedied through cunning, because he's learned his lesson through the misstep with Luthor, and soon Arthur is regarded with a newfound respect by most of the other inmates.

His tech has been rebuilt and works even better than before, though his unwritten contract with Amanda Waller states that it'll be left behind if he manages to survive what she has planned for him. Whatever it is, she's obviously not expecting him to make it out alive because instead of the usual string of missions, his release is conditional on the success of just _one_.

Arthur is still expected to work with one of the prison counselors and while it's not the burden it had been, he still doesn't like having to discuss his private life with someone who probably has a good laugh about it whenever he leaves. They'd butted heads early on, when Arthur had been asked about Kimiyo and he'd flatly refused to discuss her - he wasn't there to provide gossip. The younger man, a recent graduate of some school he'd never heard of, had threatened to withold Kimiyo's letters unless there was full cooperation. Arthur had pointed out that his love life had nothing to do with him being incarcerated, and that he would cooperate as long as she wasn't mentioned. They'd finally worked out a solution, once the counselor realized that Arthur wasn't budging and that invading the privacy of a member of the Justice League could have serious repercussions. Of course, the twerp has to test him on it every damned time he's sitting on the other side of that desk.

He's also being medicated for the depression that had nearly swallowed him whole - at first, he'd simply tucked the pills in his cheek and then traded them for books from the library. Once he'd actually begun taking them, however, Arthur had noticed the gradual shifting of his mood...now, he's on a half-dose and waiting for the day that idiot counselor says he's done for good. The other condition for his early release has him finding a therapist of his own once they turn him loose into society; Arthur doesn't mind it as much as he had before he'd started, because just about anyone would be better than Belle Reve's cadre of incompetents...and he'd probably feel a lot less resentful because it's easier to trust doctor-patient privilege when the doctor doesn't have The Wall breathing down their neck.

Arthur's idly paging through one of the books he'd borrowed from the library when the guards come through to collect the inmates selected for visitation - they'd promised to finally put his paperwork through, but he knows better than to believe anything like that. He's only just been allowed out in the yard a month ago, and last week he was finally able to send a letter to Kimiyo; Arthur isn't expecting anything more. "Light - let's go," one of the guards says, rapping his knuckles against the bars. "You've got a visitor."

He looks up from the book. "What?"

"Get your ass out here, and line up."

Tell hangs over the bunk, grinning as Arthur drops the book and gets up. "Hey, all _right_! Who's visiting him, boss?"

The guard shrugs. "No idea. Looks like a lawyer - let's _go_."

Arthur wonders what his lawyer could possibly want from him as he gets in line, nodding a greeting to the man in front of him. They're led out to the booths, and he sits down in the indicated chair before lifting his eyes to see that the woman on the other side of the bulletproof glass isn't Ellie...it's Kimiyo. His heart leaps at the sight of her sitting there smiling at him and when she reaches her hand out to press it on the glass, Arthur places his palm 'against' hers without even thinking about it. They look at each other, and he wonders how he could have possibly forgotten how beautiful she is and how happy she makes him just by existing. She lowers her hand and wipes at her eyes self-consciously, then reaches for the phone. "Hi," Kimiyo says, then tucks her chin into her chest to hide the tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I told myself not to do this."

"When have you ever followed orders?" Arthur asks. "You've never listened to anyone, especially yourself."

She laughs, wiping her eyes again. "That's true."

"They think you're my lawyer, did you know? I'm...I'm really glad you're not," he says, reaching out to the glass again. "Thank you for writing to me."

Kimiyo gazes at him and, though she'd never expressly said she still loved him in the letters, Arthur can _see_ it in the way she looks at him. Of course, it could just be wishful thinking. "I'm glad you were finally able to read them. Artie, I miss you." Her fingertips touch the opposite side of the glass, and they both look at where they'd be touching if not for the barrier. "You look better."

Arthur lifts a hand to flip his hair, which makes her smile again. "It's the haircut, I'll bet...I was thinking of shaving it all off, but I promised Imako that she could do it."

"I don't know how much longer we have. Do _you_ know?" Kimiyo asks, narrowing her eyes at him slightly.

He's been forbidden to discuss it, but he understands immediately - if anyone deserves to know about his deal, it's her. "Not too much longer; the time is always up sooner than you'd think," Arthur says carefully.

"I'll cross my fingers that we get all the time we need," Kimiyo says, putting words to action and showing him the 'X' she's made of her index and middle fingers. He nods in confirmation, and her expression turns serious. "Promise me you'll be careful in there - wherever you go. I can't lose you again."

"I'll do my best. Um, Kim?"

"Yes?"

Arthur clears his throat, glancing up at the clock to see how much time he has left to talk to her. "Do you think that, if I ever get out of here, we could...start over? I mean, if you haven't met anyone else. I couldn't blame you if you did, but, um..." he swallows hard, trying to think of what to say to her - he hadn't expected that she'd actually come visit him, so Arthur hadn't rehearsed this at all.

She stares at him in astonished silence for a few seconds, which seem like the longest seconds of his life before she recovers and actually starts looking _angry_. "For a man with genius-level intelligence, you can be the biggest idiot on the planet," Kimiyo hisses at him. "Of course we can, you moron!"

He rubs his hand over his mouth to hide the stupid grin on his face, but Kimiyo sees it anyway. "I guess I'd better plan a really good first date, then."

"I guess so," she agrees.

"I love you, Kim."

"You'd damn well _better_ , you pain in the ass." Kimiyo sniffs disdainfully as they're given a one-minute warning. "If I were anyone else, I wouldn't tell you that I love you too."

"I'm glad you're not anyone else, then," Arthur says.

She presses her fingers to her lips and turns her palm towards him. "Me too," she whispers. " _Soredemo anata to tsukiaitai_. I still want a relationship with you." 

" _Anata wa watashi no taiyo, soshite ai desu_ ," he says back, butchering the pronunciation but making her smile because of the effort he's made. _You are my sunshine, my love._ Arthur knows he'll still have to tell her about what had happened on Salvation, and he's not looking forward to it...but he'll have to lay those demons to rest if there can be any sort of trusting relationship between them ever again. For now, it's enough that she's here and that she still loves him.

"Time's up," one of the guards announces. 

The inmates say quick goodbyes to their visitors, and Kimiyo promises to buy a new pair of shears so that Imako doesn't try to give him a haircut with her glitter-covered safety scissors. She hangs the phone back up and Arthur lifts his hand in farewell, standing up and waiting to be herded back into the corridor. Now that he's finally seen her after all this time, it's harder than ever to go back into his cell...what does Waller have planned for him?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Peace settles inside her for the first time in a _long_ time. Kimiyo climbs back onto the bus that will take them all back to the parking lot, though she could have easily teleported home as soon as she'd walked outside. She's not about to give them any reason to punish Arthur more than he already has been; besides, sitting here makes it seem like she's still connected to him somehow. Kimiyo smiles out the window, wondering what Lex Luthor's going to say once he realizes that Arthur's going to walk free.

She's due for Monitor Duty, so quickly changes and leaves a few instructions for the babysitter (she's not supposed to call her a babysitter, as Yasu keeps reminding her whenever he has a chance. Kimiyo settles into the padded chair when she gets up to the satellite and puts her feet up, not sure if she wants a quiet night or not - half of her simply wants to relax and think about the day, and the other half wants to be kept busy so that she doesn't overanalyze anything.

It turns out to be a quiet night that's livened only by a few prank calls from Booster and Ted, and a visit from Kara. It's nice to have a chance to 'talk shop' with her best friend, and they're still discussing Bruce's newest upgrades to the Kitchen when her shift ends. "I heard that he added the laser-wall after finding an unused patent on it...apparently the _pending_ part of 'patent pending' had timed out after the original inventor failed to register, and didn't withdraw it."

"Let me guess," Kimiyo says, "Bruce found a loophole to prevent a claim being made after the fact. What was it, originally?"

Kara zips up her jacket, waving to Hawkgirl as the other woman walks past. "Well, that sort of thing happens more often than you'd think - the inventors either die or lose interest...sometimes they just forget to withdraw the application. It was meant as a security measure for banks, but they probably were envisioning something out of a James Bond film." She mimes dodging a lattice of red beams of light, making Kimiyo laugh at her antics. "I mean, it's ridiculous - who would try to patent something that cheesy? What were they thinking?"

"That's pretty cliche. Still, if it works for training purposes... _have_ you tried it out yet?"

"It's actually not bad - you should try your luck." Kara nudges her teasingly. "You can't keep relying on your powers. A first-grader could probably kick your ass."

Kimiyo makes a rude noise and nudges back. "You could not."

Kara laughs. "You're right - all you need to do is threaten to cook me dinner and I'd give up immediately."

"Oh, my God! That's so mean!"

"The truth ain't pretty."

There's still time to grab a drink before Kimiyo has to go home, so they stop in one of their favorite Central City haunts before parting ways. Kimiyo has a shower before crawling into bed, where she finally allows herself to relive her visit to Belle Reve Penitentiary. He'd looked so much _better_ , like he was finally finding his way out of the black hole that had nearly swallowed him. It had almost taken her with him, if she’s completely honest with herself. She forms a light-image of Arthur, just so she can see his face one more time, and sighs in contentment at the sight of him on the other side of her bed. Kimiyo's shaped it so that he looks like he had when things had been going so well for them, before the president had tried to play God, and she feels slightly foolish for reaching a hand out towards the construct.

It smiles at her just the way _he_ always has and Kimiyo wonders if Arthur has ever done something similar with a hard light construct of her…somehow, she's certain that he has. If he were still able, Arthur would most likely be doing it right now and it's not as if she's cheating on him because this _is_ him. It's just assisted masturbation, Kimiyo tells herself firmly as a barely conscious command brings Arthur's doppelganger over to her side of the bed. 

Her head falls back as the construct runs its hands over body, drawing her nightshirt up to her collarbone before Kimiyo feels the static-sharpness on her skin as it places Arthur's mouth on her skin. She shivers with pleasure and closes her eyes as she reaches her hands up. As long as her eyes are shut, it's easier to imagine that this is Arthur making love to her – there's the faint buzz of energy to remind her that it isn't, but if she just pretends that he's in his _other_ form…

Kimiyo inhales sharply as the construct eases inside her, moving with just the right amount of speed. _How could it not, since I'm the one controlling it?_ The stray thought is almost enough to derail her plans and she can feel the construct's outlines flickering, but she forces away any thought other than of her enjoyment of this moment…and how much _better_ it's going to be when she has the real Arthur in her arms. On a whim, Kimiyo forces her cells to transmute into the same energy as the doppelganger and the result is something she'd never thought would be so _good_. She bites her lips to hold in a scream as she comes, struggling to remain in control of the construct until it dissipates and Kimiyo's left shuddering with a hand between her legs. She gasps for air and presses her thighs together tightly, feeling another spasm of pleasure before the post-orgasmic haze sets in.

She slumps back against her pillow, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth. That had been very, _very_ nice. Why had she ever bothered feeling guilty about it? Kimiyo trails her fingers up her stomach with a sigh, then pulls the covers over her and drifts off to sleep on the whole-body buzz she plans on recreating again soon.

Despite knowing that she really shouldn't be doing anything of the kind, Kimiyo decides to start looking at property listings. Their entire relationship could implode yet again, and then she'd be left picking up the pieces while trying to figure out what to do about her housing situation. She idly browses through a few websites while taking a break from vetting the final candidates for a coveted research position at the Fawcett City location, then picks up one of the free magazines on the racks by the newspapers on her way to lunch with Ted Kord.

Her friend is happy to see her, but his smile dims a bit when Kimiyo makes sure he understands that she's not coming back to Kord Industries. "I enjoy where I'm at – it was the change I needed, but I'll always remember our time together fondly," she says, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand.

"You make me feel like I've just been broken up with," Ted grouses. "And I've had just about enough of _that_ happening, thank you very much."

"Oh, no! Do you want to talk about it?" Kimiyo asks, smiling up at their server. "Water for me, please."

Ted scowls across at her. "You don't sound very sympathetic."

"Come on, Theodore. I think we all know who your true match is, and it's _not_ the great pair of legs in Accounting…plus, dating your own employees is a little morally gross."

"You're supposed to say morally _grey_."

Kimiyo shrugs and opens her menu. "I calls 'em like I sees 'em. Ooh, they have Tilapia."

Her friend huffs and flips open his menu, as well. "I have no idea what you're talking about, my true _match_. It's not gross either, because I don't _technically_ sign her checks…"

"It's a _stamp of your signature_ , Ted."

"…and we didn't even sleep together. The fish looks good, but I was thinking about a salad. No grossness at all."

Kimiyo rolls her eyes. "I love you dearly, but you are incredibly dense. Don’t get a salad. They'll just bring it straight to me, and I do not have time for that kind of sexist crap in my life right now."

"Speaking of crap, how's…uh, how's Arthur doing?"

"I am the only one allowed to equate Arthur Light to a steaming pile of shit. He's doing well, thank you for asking, and if he were here right now I'm sure Artie would _also_ tell you to stop lying to yourself. Michael has been hopelessly in love with you for years and it's obvious to anyone with functioning eyes that his feelings aren't entirely unrequited. Quit being an idiot and step up to the plate."

Ted stares at her in shock. "You've really stopped pulling your punches, haven’t you? _Jesus_."

"I've had a few painful experiences that might have been avoided if I'd just been upfront about issues I tried to ignore," Kimiyo says. "If you have a chance to be happy, Ted – why _wouldn't_ you want to try for that? Now, let's order – here she comes."

"Unbelievable…"


	6. Chapter 6

He's beginning to think that Waller might be lying to him – after all, he _did_ try to murder her before and she's always had a long memory for that sort of thing. What better revenge could you really get legally than getting someone's hopes up like this just to dash them? Arthur tries to not let it bother him, at least outwardly, but the possibility is there and it's what _he'd_ do.

Right now, he's in the 'shop' soldering some wires together and attempting to work a flaw into his new tech. The only trick to it is a lot of misdirection and hoping he can get away with it, like casting a line into murky water and crossing your fingers that the right fish takes the bait. Arthur knows without a doubt that he's a great deal more intelligent than anyone on Checkmate's payroll, but they tend to be hyper vigilant when it comes to inmate-produced toys.

He sets the soldering iron down and leans back, pushing the cracked safety goggles onto his forehead. "You should really get these replaced – there could be an accident," Arthur says to the CO who bustles over to inspect his work as if he's managed to create a bomb.

"You're the only accident around here, Light. Your mom should've kept her legs shut and spared the rest of us."

"I'm sure she would have if she could have," Arthur replies, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. "She was born without legs."

The other man gives him a startled look. "Shit, really? Damn. I didn't know."

Arthur shrugs and glances over at his bench partner, some kid who'd joined up with the Royal Flush Gang. He's surrounded by playing card gimmicks even in the damned tool shop. "Don't worry about it. She won the Double Dutch world championships by the time she was sixteen. She was really good at hopping." 

The CO finally realizes he's being messed with. "Fuck you, Light."

"Bring protection, and I'll put you on my schedule," Arthur suggests politely and he supposes that tone really does count for something, because the collar only fires for half a second this time. Arthur rubs at his temples and waits for the throbbing to die down before returning to his task, since the CO has finished inspecting it. Whenever any of them are in this particular room, their work is carried out in fifteen-minute intervals so that the guards can step in and make sure the end product isn't purposefully being manipulated in ways it shouldn't. He smiles inwardly as he lowers the safety glasses back down, because he's already done that exact thing about ten times over; the other pieces that will remain as Task Force X property will only work reliably for six months… a year, if a miracle occurs. The best part about it is that Waller _knows_ he's done it, and her quality control has already identified flaws that Arthur had created and then hidden, but the _real_ problems have remained undetected.

He lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck – the part that's not covered by the Waller Collar – and reminds himself to ask for a new one. In the past week, he's been shocked awake at least three times. Arthur glances up at the guard, who's gone back to flipping through the magazine he's not supposed to be reading, and finishes the wiring. "Hey, boss – d'you want to take a look at this before I bolt the cover back on?"

"Naw, just go ahead and get done so I can kick your ass outta my shop," the other man says, not even bothering to look up from his gossip magazine. 

Arthur does as ordered, and is watching the Royal Flush newbie attempting to electrocute himself when a pair of CO's come to collect him. "It's time. Grab your gear, and let's go."

"Okay, just let me…wait," Arthur says. "Time for what, exactly?" He already knows, but can't quite believe it – it's not supposed to happen for another two weeks.

"Grab your _gear_ , Light, unless you'd like to ride out your entire sentence and be out in time to get your senior's discount from Denny's."

"Well, when you put it _that_ way…"

He's taken to a holding cell where he's given a new uniform and Arthur stares down at the white starburst on his chest, rubbing his fingers across it and trying not to remember what had happened the last time he wore this symbol. He releases a shaky-sounding breath, and slowly gathers up his tech. The belt with the light diodes seems heavier than he remembers, because it's been so long since he's truly needed the circuitry intact. His gloves are next, and the Kevlar-lined cape. Arthur isn't given his helmet until the guards come back to exchange the standard Waller Collar with a slimmer one that conceals explosive charges…if he tries to escape before completing his mission, Waller herself has the remote that will blow his head off.

Arthur settles the helmet on his head and is led through the 'gauntlet', which is what Squad members call the long walk through the bottom tier – they're always paraded through the prison so that the other inmates of Belle Reve can see them go, proof of where 'cooperation' can get them. He's run the gauntlet several times, and each time felt proud that he'd made it, but now Arthur just feels sick to his stomach because the odds have been stacked against him like never before. He starts his final journey down the hall, because it will be his last one way or the other, and keeps his eyes fixed on the doors leading out to where he'll undergo mission briefing. There's the usual amount of catcalls and sarcastic slow-claps but since it's just him, a few of Arthur's acquaintances have to add in some ribbing concerning Kimiyo.

He gets buzzed through the double doors, and Waller is waiting for him with a smile on her face. "Well, well. Have I got a job for _you_." Arthur sits down as Rick Flag dims the lights and begins the briefing, where he learns that he's supposed to take down one of Kobra's most dangerous operatives – in a huge compound filled with hostile individuals - all by himself with no auxiliary support whatsoever. "This shouldn't be a problem…should it?" Waller asks sweetly as the lights are turned back on.

"Of course not," Arthur says. _You fucking bitch_. Still, as they say, revenge is sweet…and he's planning on getting his. There's no way he's letting her outplay him. "I'd like to make a request."

Waller's smile widens slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry – weren't you listening when Mister Flag told you that this offer is 'as is'? Either you accept the terms now, or these nice gentlemen would be happy to escort you back to your cell."

Arthur hadn't really expected anything else, but had figured it was worth a shot. "One last question, then. Am I allowed to ask a question?"

She makes a sweeping gesture with her hands to show how generous she's being. "I'll allow one."

"You want that man dead. I'll bring about his death, since that's what you want – as long as his death _is_ the end result, will you honor your part of the agreement?"

Waller's eyes narrow at him. "What are you planning, Light?"

"Oh, I'm sorry – I wasn't aware that it's a team effort now." Arthur stares back, uncaring that Amanda Waller can see every ounce of the hatred he carries for her. "I'll make sure he dies, and I'll turn in my tech after. Now is it a deal, or not?" He extends a hand and waits for Waller to finish posturing and shake on it. She does so reluctantly, and Arthur fixes Rick Flag with a pointed look to which the man nods in confirmation. "Let's get to it, then."

Arthur has ample time to regret his posturing as he's loaded up in the transfer van and taken to the nearby airstrip, with Flag giving him The Eye. "You have no idea what you're in for."

"Probably not," Arthur agrees, "but I'm trying to make the best of it."

Flag laughs and shakes his head. "Good luck while you're dressed like _that_. When's the last time you shaved; right after puberty?"

"Something like that, yeah…listen, I know you're not always on board with Waller's agenda."

"I'm not helping you on this one."

Arthur leans forward slightly, maintaining eye contact and hoping Kimiyo won't be too angry with him for what he's about to do. "Remember when you picked me up at Kimiyo's, that night? Turns out I left her with a little more than just a goodbye kiss."

Flag scoffs. "Nice try, asshole, but we all know Dr. Hoshi's not having a baby."

"No, not anymore. She miscarried after _you_ helped send me on an extended vacation." Arthur narrows his eyes at Flag, watching how the other man looks away. "I can hold a grudge for a very long time. Do something for me now, and maybe that'll pass you by."

Flag rubs at the side of his face, and then meets Arthur's eyes. "I can't help you actually take down the target."

"That's not what I'm after."

"Well, uh…" the other man glances around to make sure the conversation isn't being witnessed. "What d'you have in mind?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Kimiyo is busy with the midweek shopping when her phone rings, and she sees Calculator's profile picture on the screen after digging it out of her purse. "Noah! Hey!"

_"Hiya, Kim. Got a minute?"_

"For you, I've got two – what's going on?" She pushes her cart to the side and slips her shopping list back into her pocket.

Noah clears his throat. " _Listen, I know you two didn't exactly part on the best of terms…but do you happen to have access to any of Arthur's clothing?_ "

"That's a weird question, even for you…" Kimiyo frowns, trying to remember exactly what had happened to Arthur's belongings – their reconciliation hasn't included any details of that nature, so far, but she's fairly sure he's left some of his clothing at her place. "I may have a _few_ things, but why on earth would you want it?"

" _Well…if he could have called you directly and asked for it, I know he would have,_ " Noah says, " _but it was relayed through a line from Belle Reve._ "

He wouldn't need any of his own clothing while he was still in prison, which means… "Jesus, Noah. It's the Squad, isn't it? His number's been called."

" _Yeah. We've only got an hour to get his stuff and deliver it – you up for it?_ "

"Are you kidding me? I'll – I'm at the store right now. Let me just get this stuff home and…no, _shit_ \- there's a line like you wouldn't believe, and with only one register open. God _damn_ it." Kimiyo glares at the sole cashier. "Just… _shit_ , I really need to pick this stuff up. I won't have _time_ later. Um. What about Eobard? Can you give him a call for me? It'd be cutting it close, but with his help I'll be able to get it done." Noah agrees, and Kimiyo wheels her cart up to the end of the line to wait. She feels bad for the only cashier on duty – it's not _her_ fault, after all – and tries not to scream when the old man at the head of the line decides he wants to pay with a personal check. 

Her hair flies up around her face as a gust of speedster-powered wind hits it. "Hhhhhhhhelllllo," Eobard greets her, making a show of tossing his own bangs out of his eyes. Kimiyo's slightly surprised that he's taken the time to change into civilian clothing, not to mention the fact that Eobard has slowed down enough to make an appearance – he's obviously planning on keeping her company.

"Thank you for coming, but you don't have to _stay_ -"

Eobard's form flickers suddenly, and his speech equalizes to match it. "Nonsense. This is a rare opportunity for me to be seen with a heroine in public, and with no handcuffs – or Flash – in sight. What's this about Arthur needing _clothes_ ; don’t tell me he's naked again.

"I'm not too sure about that, myself," Kimiyo admits as she pushes her cart forward slightly. "Noah says it's to do with the Squad. Whatever it is, it's nothing good."

The speedster moves up to eye the candy display speculatively. "He'll do just fine, Kimiyo. Arthur has always been resourceful."

If Kimiyo hadn't been watching closely, she might not have seen one of the boxes holding several candy bars empty as if by magic. " _Eobard_."

"But I'm hungry," he complains.

She shakes her head at him. "You're always hungry."

"It's not _my_ fault-"

"Seriously? You're seriously going to let those words leave your mouth when everyone knows exactly what you did to become who you are?" Kimiyo slaps his wrist as he makes to empty another carton. " _No_."

Eobard grins and steps away from the chocolate. "It's too bad Artie got to you first."

"It's too bad you just made the mistake of equating me to a _prize_ instead of a living, breathing human being," she snaps. "If you're going to be an asshole, then I'll figure out a way to be there in time – on my _own_. Otherwise, close your mouth if you can't be respectful."

He laughs. "Okay." 

Eobard maneuvers their conversation into one concerning Barry Allen, his favorite topic now and forever, but Kimiyo doesn't mind humoring him about it. They might not be close friends, but she _does_ like him. The line slowly moves up until it's finally her turn, and her companion does the honors bagging-wise, so all Kimiyo has to do is pay. She pockets the receipt and gives a quick nod, then she's being deposited inside her apartment quicker than she can blink. A yellow blur unpacks the groceries for her while she's digging through her closet for Arthur's old clothes – he'd forgotten enough to make up an entire outfit, though the socks don't match, and Kimiyo dumps everything in a bag along with the pair of Converse Arthur had left beneath her bed before being sent to Salvation. Reverse Flash whisks her away yet again, kissing her on the cheek in farewell once they arrive in…is it _Gotham_?

Kimiyo hugs the bag to her chest and looks around to where Eobard has brought her, wondering exactly where she is and what Arthur's mission actually entails. "Doctor Hoshi," a voice murmurs, and she turns to see Rick Flag behind her. "You aren't supposed to be here."

"I take it you're the one who called Noah." She glances around to see if she can notice anyone watching them. _Stupid. You're not going to see them if they don't_ want _to be seen_. "What's going on, Rick? And I am _not_ talking about how your day is going."

He sighs. "I can't say. Did you bring the clothes? Is that what's in the bag?"

Flag reaches out for it and Kimiyo passes the bag over. "Where is he."

"I…can't say that, either. Waller said, _no help_. I'm already pushing it." He tucks the bag under his arm and taps his fingers against it. "Thanks for this."

Kimiyo watches him move away into the crowd; it looks as though there must be about five different clubs on this block alone. She waits a few seconds before ducking down and carefully warping the light around her, then teleporting up above street level in the hopes that she'll be able to follow Flag's progress…and that he'll lead her to Arthur. _I don't give a damn about the 'no help' rule – if they can't see me, they can't count me as 'help'_ , Kimiyo thinks to herself. She catches sight of Flag almost by accident, and lifts herself higher in the air; the crowd is thinning out and, even if she's technically invisible, she'll still leave a shadow on the ground if she's too close to a streetlight.

Rick Flag leads her down a few alleys before finally breaking into a run once he's convinced that Kimiyo hasn't followed him. She hangs back a ways just in case she accidentally gives her presence away somehow, and watches him jog straight into a rundown bus station. Kimiyo checks the moon's position before settling onto the roof of a neighboring building which happens to be a bail bonds service, fittingly enough. 

She only has to wait another twenty minutes before the doors open and Flag steps back out, with Arthur in tow.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

The clothes are pushed beneath the gap in the bathroom stall Arthur is using to change out of his more recognizable black and white uniform. "The missus says hello," Flag says. "We're done, Light."

"My feelings are hurt..."

"I liked you better when you were in Solitary. Just get your hairy ass out here and let's go – you've got a job to do."

Arthur doesn't bother responding, because he only has a short amount of time in which to get dressed in the first 'real' clothing he's worn for the past…well, he's _still_ not completely sure how long he's been in Belle Reve. The clothes have indeed been liberated from Kimiyo's place, because he remembers leaving the long-sleeved shirt there. The shoes, he can't remember when he'd left them behind; Arthur hasn't seen them in years and had been well on his way to forgetting he'd ever actually owned a pair of Converse. The socks don't match. He pulls everything on, and quickly sorts through his new tech until he locates the power source and the adhesive circuitry needed to use it. "I hope you didn't forget to bring my gun along," Arthur says, opening the stall door and shoving the bundle of black and white fabric into the shopping bag. He leans towards the mirror to check the placement of the circuitry patches, and puts two more at his temples where his long hair will hide them. The contact gel is cold on his skin and the patches will start to become uncomfortable soon, but as long as it helps his gear 'communicate' and keeps him from dying, it's well worth the price of discomfort. Similar patches dot the skin of his chest, back, and arms.

Flag hands over the updated light gun, a twin to the one confiscated by Superman and put on display up at the Watchtower. Arthur checks the charge on it, testing the switch that will toggle the laser on and off, and then makes Flag shake his head in despair by filling the extraneous bubble-shaped stock with water from the sink. "Bad enough that it looks like some fucking cheesy bullshit from a pulp scifi movie, but did you _have_ to make it a fully functional _water gun_?"

"Lighten _up_ , Richard."

"You can fuck off with those damned puns. I didn't sign up for any of that shit," Flag grouses. "Let's go."

Arthur forces himself to smile widely, determined to fake his way through – if he doesn't make it, the last memory anyone's going to have of him is Arthur Light not giving a single fuck. If he _does_ make it, then…he makes it _and_ his reputation gets a boost. "Lead the way."

They leave the restroom together after Arthur shoves the light gun into the waistband of his jeans, and out onto the street. It's gotten dark while he was preparing himself to die in the men's bathroom of the bus station. Arthur still hasn't received a final briefing of his mission and it's just like Waller to neglect something like that, simply because she wants him to fail. One of these days, they're going to have to stop trying to kill each other…maybe he'll get lucky and a car will hit her. Not _too_ soon, though, because Waller needs to sign his release authorization first. 

He's running through possible scenarios in his head when he feels a light touch on the back of his hand. Arthur absently shakes it off, attributing it to either nerves or a random mosquito, but it happens again and this time it's accompanied by a slight whiff of…Kimiyo's favorite shampoo? "Hang on a sec, gotta tie my shoes," Arthur says loudly, and drops to a knee before Flag can object. "You're not supposed to be here," he murmurs.

Kimiyo's unseen hand slips beneath his hair to rest on the back of his neck in a gentle caress. "I know," she whispers. "Let me help."

" _No_." 

It comes out sharper than he'd planned, and Flag looks back at him. "What?"

"There's a knot in the laces."

"Hurry _up_."

Arthur reaches up to cover her hand with his own. "You gotta go, Miko. Too dangerous." Flag yells at him again, and Arthur sighs as he stands back up. "I'll see you soon – go home, okay? Stay where it's safe."

The hand on his neck tightens, and her lips brush the shell of his ear. "No."

"Shit."

"Light, god _damn_ it!"

"I'm _coming_." Arthur rakes his hands through his hair after he stands up, wanting to scream in frustration. It's bad enough that he's being sent on a suicide mission, figurative _and_ literal, but now Kimiyo's going to be in the line of fire as well. He breathes out forcefully and rubs at his beard, wondering how he can possibly get her to leave and hating that he could actually use her help. Kimiyo has actually gone on a Squad mission with him once before, a smash-and-grab in Bialya, and she'd held her own…not only that, but she had made up for his own failings because he'd been in the midst of a weird bodyswap situation with Mia Dearden at the time. Arthur knows she can look out for herself, but he can't help the protective impulses that come over him like a fever whenever she's in danger. 

No one could actually _want_ to see the person they love most in the world in harm's way.

Flag leads him to the most cliché thing he's seen so far – an actual, honest to god, white surveillance van. "Are you for real?"

"Shut up and get in here."

Arthur ducks through the doors and comes face to face with the one person he'd thought had stayed behind in Belle Reve. "Nice outfit, Arthur. Where'd you get it?" Amanda Waller asks, her eyes flicking over to rest on Flag. 

"Oh, you know. Commissary." 

"I figured I'd come watch this for myself," Waller tells him, smiling in a way that Arthur doesn't like at all. "Your target's location has changed. He's decided to meet up with a few of his fellow thugs at a local nightclub, which means that there are several more civilians than originally expected. I'm sure you'll do just fine, however, your track record with civilian casualties notwithstanding…lots of _kids_ , I'm told." Waller watches him carefully, waiting for him to get upset, but Arthur keeps a firm rein on his anger. She finally shrugs and passes a folder to him. "John Mosca. Find him, kill him, and you can go back to being the laughingstock of the Justice League."

Arthur opens the folder and gets a good look (sort of) at the man he's being sent to assassinate, lifting the pictures closer to his face as unobtrusively as possible. "Picture quality is terrible," he says dismissively. Finding the man – and making sure it's the _right_ man – in a low-lit club is going to be nearly impossible. Arthur wonders if she's somehow figured out that he's steadily going blind. Waller's smile widens fractionally when he looks back over at her. Yes, she knows. _Next time, Waller. Next fucking time._ "It's good to know that I'm not the only petty one here." He takes one of the pictures from the folder and crams it down the front of his pants before she can ask for it back. "Case in point."

She lets him go, and he's loaded into the back of another van filled with plainclothes operatives. Arthur's eyes skim over them, picking out the weapons that they'll undoubtedly use on him if he tries to run, and he suddenly knows how he can turn that to his advantage…he'd originally thought to lure the man out of hiding and into a police ambush, letting the cops do his job for him. This, though, is _much_ better. Arthur wants to laugh but he's supposed to be feeling nervous right now, so he holds it in and lets the rich feeling of satisfaction spread through him.

He's let out a few blocks away from the club he's being sent to, and smiles when he catches another whiff of that shampoo. "Hey."

An invisible hand slips into the crook of his elbow. "Hey," Kimiyo says softly. "You'd better not try to send me away again."

"I thought about it, but I know you wouldn't go anyway," Arthur admits. "I could actually use your help…"

"That's my genius," she says, making him laugh because it sounds like she's praising a puppy she's been training to roll over. "What are we doing?"

Her body sways close to his as they walk, and Arthur has to tell himself to calm down – neither of them are here for _that_. All that's important is getting the job done so that there _is_ time for it. "Well, I need you to…don't laugh, but I need laser eye surgery."

Kimiyo stops walking immediately. "Excuse me?"

"Can you do it, or not?" Arthur gently urges her to keep walking, because Flag and his gaggle of snipers are watching. "You've done it before, haven't you?"

"Well, _yes_ , but why would you…" her voice trails off, and her nails dig into his arm as she finally realizes why he's asking. "Oh, Artie. Sweetheart, how long…?"

Arthur clears his throat. "I, uh, started to notice a while back. It's probably something to do with how we can sort through the spectrums, you know? I'm not completely blind yet, but I'm…I'm getting there. Think you could help me out?" She's squeezing his arm so hard it's like she's getting ready to dislocate his shoulder.

"You should've said something," Kimiyo says finally with a suspicious sniffling sound.

"Right, and have you drown me in your tears? Knock it off, Hoshi."

"I'm not crying," she insists.

"Your nose is all red right now, I just know it."

"You can _know_ all you want but you sure as hell can't _see_ it, Helen Keller-" Kimiyo breaks off and punches him in the side. "There you go again, bringing out the worst in me."

"I'd like to _be_ the worst in you," Arthur replies out of long habit, and bites the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste blood. "Shit. Sorry."

Kimiyo presses close to him, sliding a hand down the back of his jeans to squeeze his ass. "We're supposed to wait until after our first date, but-"

"Oh, my _God_ ," he hisses when Kimiyo suggests that he duck down the alley and get unzipped. "Don't do this to me."


	7. Chapter 7

Kimiyo resolves to stop teasing him because it really isn't appropriate at the moment, but she's never been able to resist that flustered look on his face…plus she'd needed to find some way to change the subject after finding out that he's going blind. With all the changes her own eyes have been through, it's really not that surprising that Arthur is having trouble now that his metagene can't help to regulate his vision. She wishes he'd _said_ something to her before; she could've helped him right there in the Belle Reve visitation room. Hopefully it isn't too late – they won't have too much time for it, but she'll be able to sharpen his vision temporarily until he's released and able to undergo the procedure properly.

They join up with the crowds milling about in front of the club, so Kimiyo steps around a slow-moving group of friends and abruptly becomes visible. Arthur's eyes narrow as she circles back towards him and Kimiyo would laugh, but she knows it's because he's trying to focus on her. "I was talking with Kara the other day," she says conversationally, walking half a step behind him so that his Suicide Squad babysitters don't think she's actually with him.

"Oh, boy."

"She was talking about someone she'd met at the store – scruffy like you. She calls it 'Farmer's Market Hot' and I thought, that is what _you_ are." Kimiyo slips the hair elastic from around her wrist and offers it to him. "You still look young enough to pull off a man bun – put your hair up."

Arthur snorts. "Farmer's Market Hot?"

"We'll get you a flannel shirt and the look will be complete." Kimiyo smiles at him and forges ahead to try her luck with the bouncer at the door. He lets her in and she glances back to see that Arthur is following her instructions, most likely because he can see that a few other men are sporting the same hairstyle. Well, he probably had to squint… _damn it. Why didn't he_ tell _me?_ By some miracle the bouncer lets him past and, for the very first time since they'd parted on such bad terms, Kimiyo can openly reach for him and have him reach back. Arthur seizes her immediately and pulls her into his arms, away from the traffic near the door, and Kimiyo presses her face against his chest.

The music is too loud for them to speak, but for now they don’t need to – it's enough that they're together again. Arthur's fingers run through her hair and down her back, waking feelings that had only been acted upon with that light construct; it's a stunningly bad idea, but she's suddenly too desperate to care. Kimiyo pulls away and jerks her chin towards the dim glow of the restrooms; she's led him almost to the door of the men's room before he realizes what she wants from him, and Arthur's plainly caught between desire and common sense. "No," he bends down to shout in her ear.

"Yes," Kimiyo shouts back, dropping his hand and curving the light around her so that she's invisible once again. She takes his hand again and tugs him in, then sighs upon realizing that there are no stalls…she'd thought that there should be at least _one_. 

Arthur coughs at her when she leads him over to one of the urinals. "Kim." He fidgets while Kimiyo flicks his zipper. "Nuh-uh."

She balances carefully on either side of the drain and starts to rethink her life choices because this could get seriously disturbing if her shoes slip, but this is Gotham. She'll have to trash her clothes anyway as soon as she gets home and at the very least, they'll have a good story to laugh about later. Arthur sighs and lowers his zipper slowly, canting his hips forward and moving his hand to hide their activity from view. There's some sort of crumpled photograph in his waistband that he tucks against his hip. 

Kimiyo longs to press her thighs together the moment he pulls his cock out, so contents herself by slipping one hand down into her pants while her other hand takes a firm grip on Arthur's thigh. They don’t have the time it'll take for her to really do this properly, so Kimiyo simply leans forward and licks him from root to tip before wrapping her lips around his dick and getting to work. She can feel his legs tremble as she sucks the thick, warm shaft, and Kimiyo's fingers circle around her clit with increasing speed.

Another club patron is looking at Arthur suspiciously, and she realizes that he's accidentally moaned aloud. "Uh…you okay, man?" 

"Yeah, just…waiting for everyone to get out," Arthur says in a strained-sounding voice. "I've, um. Nervous bladder, you know? Kinda embarrassing."

"Oh. Yeah." The other man finishes up and Arthur's breath hisses through his teeth as, instead of leaving, he turns back to them. "My cousin had that problem too, dude. Just go see a doctor – they've got, like, pills for that. Getcha fixed right up."

Kimiyo takes him deep enough to touch the back of her throat, and Arthur claws at the tiled backsplash. "Th-th-thanks," he stutters out. "Look, I hate to be _that guy_ but I have _really_ gotta-"

"Right! Sorry. I'll just, uh…yeah." The man pauses yet again, to Kimiyo's amusement and Arthur's palpable dismay. "You seem really familiar, are you…?"

She can feel his muscles tensing as he gets closer to orgasm, and redoubles her efforts. "Rainbow Raider. Could you _please_ get the fuck out?" Arthur says desperately. "I'm gonna die if I can't get this taken care of."

"Sorry! Wow, I've never met an actual _Rogue_ before…"

The door finally closes, and Arthur reaches down to hold her head in place. "God, Miko, I'm so close…you're so good at that, _fuck_ -!"

Kimiyo hums around her mouthful and breathes through her nose as Arthur's hips start moving, until he's fucking her mouth and they're both moaning. He pulls out in the end and pumps himself to a finish, groaning her name while she nuzzles her face against his stomach. Kimiyo moves to take his cock back into her mouth the instant Arthur releases it, swirling her tongue around him in a desperate bid for just a _bit_ more stimulation. Her lower body clenches hard in response to the taste of his come, and then she's moaning helplessly around him as her own orgasm consumes her. 

Arthur reaches down, patting at the air until he figures out exactly where she is, though Kimiyo's control over her 'disguise' erodes so that he can see her just fine. He drops into a crouch in front of her and shoves a hand down her pants to help out, and Kimiyo gasps at the feeling of his fingers pushing inside her. "Artie, _Jesus_ -" He swallows the rest of her sentence by kissing her, because they hadn't even bothered to do that earlier.

She wriggles on his fingers and wraps her arms around his neck so that she doesn't topple backwards, kissing him harder. "Not that I'm complaining, but what _was_ that?" Arthur demands breathlessly when they finally separate. He tucks himself back into his jeans and helps her stand.

"You _did_ say that I owed you," she points out, watching Arthur stick his fingers inside his mouth. "I don't suppose we have time for another-"

" _No_ , we don't. Didn't have time for this, but…damn." He exhales forcefully and goes to wash his hands. "When did I say you owed me?"

Kimiyo can hear the outer door of the bathroom open and goes invisible again. "You said it when I confronted you about being drunk the last time we…"

Arthur flushes. "Oh. Miko, I'm sorry-"

"You in here jackin' off? Fucking pervert," a voice says, and they both turn to look at the burly security guard shouldering through the door. Arthur insists that he was doing nothing of the kind, and Kimiyo's chest aches with the effort of holding in her laughter as he repeats his 'nervous bladder' story. "I just had a guy come to me complaining that he saw you-"

"Look, I'm just in here trying to take a piss. Some man watches me pee and suddenly _I'm_ the pervert here?" Arthur asks reasonably, and Kimiyo has to admit that he's come pretty far in learning how to conceal a lie. This doesn't bode well for when _she_ needs to know when he's lying, but some of his tells are still there and no one knows him better. "Maybe he was high on something; I was definitely not masturbating."

The man eyes him suspiciously. "I dunno. You don't seem like you're lying, but I'll have to put you on probation just in case." Probation, in this case, is simply being banned from the club for a set amount of time – not a problem for either of them, because they rarely visit Gotham. They also are loath to visit any kind of nightclub since the erratic flashing lights always play havoc on their nervous systems

Arthur takes a certain amount of pleasure in giving Rainbow Raider's real name, however. "Bivolo. B-I-V-O-L-O. First name's Roy."

They make their escape and Kimiyo hustles him into the ladies room next. "Man coming in, ladies – he's got something in his eye!" she calls out loudly so that nobody screams. "I've just got to get it out and we'll be on our way." She parks him right next to the sink and ignores the grumbles from the other women – they've got to do this quickly before the security guard realizes where they've gone. "Okay, eyes wide and do _not_ blink."

"Got it," Arthur says, bending down so that she can look directly into his eyes.

Kimiyo carefully sifts through the light wavelengths until she finds one that she can use to reshape his corneas without announcing to everyone in the bathroom that she's basically using heat vision.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

It's unnerving, to say the least, having your girlfriend perform laser eye surgery on you in a bathroom full of other women fixing their makeup in the mirror. Arthur probably should've asked how many times she'd done this, but he's known Kimiyo long enough to know that she'd never half-ass anything. There's nobody in the world that he trusts more.

"Almost done," she murmurs, and he takes a minute to marvel at how utterly competent and calm she is right now when just minutes earlier Kimiyo was sucking him off in the men's room. Arthur holds himself still and waits patiently, warmth spreading through him when she gives him a smile full of praise. "Very good," Kimiyo says, and then her expression dissolves into shock. "Whoa, what was-"

"What was what?" Arthur stands up to his full height and rubs at his eyes. "Hey, I can see!"

"That was the whole point, genius," she says drily. "I thought I saw- no, let's just get out of here." Kimiyo still looks slightly troubled by something, but he's still got a job to do. Whatever it is can wait.

They slip out of the bathroom and into the crush of the dance floor, where he pulls the photograph from his pants and scans it – Arthur feels slightly dizzy at having his vision restored so abruptly, but it's nothing he can't handle – before passing it to her. "See if you can spot this guy; I don't have much time left." She suggests that they split up and search, and Arthur feels guilty for suggesting that she search this end of the club while he looks in the opposite direction. He takes the photo back from her and kisses her in apology, though only he knows what it's for.

The moment Kimiyo disappears, Arthur turns and heads straight for the hidden VIP section of the club. He doesn't bother to conceal his approach to the two-way mirrored glass, but walks right up and slaps the creased photograph up against it. He only has to wait a few seconds before the cleverly concealed door, set on a seam of the mirrors, opens and he's pulled inside with guns trained on him. "Good evening to you, _too_ ," Arthur says as he's searched roughly and his light gun is found tucked into the back of his jeans. "Hey, be careful with that. It's collectible."

His quarry steps forward to take the surveillance photo from the hands of one of his guards. "Who are you, and where did you get this?"

"Checkmate sent me to kill you. If I don't, they'll keep me in prison for the rest of my life and I'd really prefer not to have that happen to me."

Mosca narrows his eyes at Arthur. "Checkmate, huh? I thought I asked you your _name_."

"Emil LaSalle; nice to meet you," Arthur says smoothly, extending his arm for a handshake that doesn't happen. "Or…not. Doesn't matter to me."

The other man circles around him. "You've got some balls to come right in here and tell me what your plan is."

Arthur smiles slightly. "Last time I checked, I had two of them. Listen, I'm here to make you an offer…if you agree to it, we can both go our separate ways and stay alive. I can get my life back and you can _Naja-Naja_ to your heart's content; I really don't give a fuck what you do."

It takes several more minutes of some very fast talking, but belief finally takes hold in Mosca's eyes. _That's it, you dumb bastard. Walk right to your death, and my freedom_. "So how do I _disguise_ myself as you?" Mosca asks, reaching out to take the light gun from one of his men's hand. "Maybe I'll just shoot you with this."

"You could, but unless you know how to switch the barrels, it wouldn't do a single thing but get me wet. Let me show you." There's the requisite hesitation, the whole 'if I give it to you how do I know you won't shoot me' schtick, but in the end Mosca gives Arthur the gun and he thumbs the switch while pretending the switch is located elsewhere. He also doesn't bother calling attention to this fact. "See that? Couldn't be easier."

Any fool can see that the second Arthur hands it back, Mosca's either going to shoot him or take out one of his own underlings. Arthur's betting on the second option, and is proved right when the man immediately kills the goon closest to him; the laser punches through the dead man's chest and leaves a scorch mark on the wall behind him. "I like this. I like it very much," Mosca says thoughtfully.

Arthur distracts him before he can think of killing another one of his henchmen and finding out that the trigger needs to be reset each time it fires. "Now we have our corpse. All I need to do is put one of these patches" he slides up his sleeve to uncover a few of them "on the body, one of them on _you_ , and you'll get to see what you look like as a dead body." He does so slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves to alarm any of the rest of those with guns. Thankfully, the guns aren't pointed at him anymore. "You know, I've heard quite a bit about Kobra…prison gossip, you know? What's…what's it _really_ like? I mean, you're high enough on the totem pole to have me sent after you so that must make you pretty important," Arthur rambles. This whole situation reminds him of having Jehovah's Witnesses sent to his door, except in this case they could all kill him at any moment instead of offering him a copy of The Watchtower.

Mosca visibly preens at the implied praise, and he's off and running with a long-winded recital concerning the cult. Arthur is careful to pay attention and make interested noises at all the right parts, pretending that he could be easily convinced to join up. It's exhausting, but ultimately worth it because Mosca finally signals his men to put their guns away completely as he waxes poetic about Kobra. "We have contacts inside Belle Reve with whom you can speak, brother. I have known the temptation to be fleeting when information about us is scarce – we must bring you into our ranks as a fellow warrior," Mosca says, gazing at something Arthur can't see and spreading his hands wide in benediction.

What a fucking nutcase. "I'd like that. Once I'm out, I look forward to joining you here," Arthur says, trying to sound properly awed and _not_ like he's lying through his teeth. "So, what d'you say? Let's go fake your death." He removes another pair of the patches and holds them out.

Mosca doesn't even hesitate as he signs his own death certificate by taking the patches. "Where should I put them?"

Arthur smiles. "Please, allow me."

The patches are applied, along with another smaller patch that Arthur places on the back of Mosca's neck. _Sucker_. He trips the generator tucked into his side pocket, and the network of circuitry patches situated over his body sends the image overlay to the sensors adorning his target. The light ripples, and then Arthur is facing his own twin. A weaker field has spread over the dead body left forgotten on the floor behind them, and it will dissolve the moment Mosca is far enough away from it. 

"Wow, I really _do_ need a haircut," he says. A mirror can only show so much. Jesus. No wonder Imako is in such a hurry to play barber… "Let's get this done, shall we?" He's 'convinced' John Mosca to switch places with him and they're scheduled to switch once more after the henchman's corpse is identified as him. Arthur knows full well that Mosca isn't going to place himself into custody for even five seconds, let alone the hour that he's promised, but Mosca doesn't realize that Arthur's whole plan hinges on the betrayal. "Remember, they're expecting me to come from the side exit," Arthur says, reaching his hand out once again.

This time, Mosca takes it with a firm grip and smiles at him. "One hour, my friend. It has been a pleasure, Mister LaSalle."

Arthur smiles back. "The pleasure, as they say, has been all mine."

He leaves the mirrored VIP suite, and wades through the enthusiastically wriggling dancers until he spots Kimiyo. She looks unbelievably pissed off. "Arthur, what the _hell_."

"Hide me," he yells in her ear. Kimiyo's expression becomes even more furious, and Arthur is forced to grab her arm and tow her over against the wall. "I'll explain in a minute – just trust me. _Hide me_." Arthur ducks down as the remaining circuitry patches buzz in reaction to the light waves bending around his body, then he urges her through the crush of bodies and out of the main club entrance. 

Kimiyo seizes his arm in a firm I'm-going-to-fucking-kill-you grip. "It's been a minute," she snarls. "Where _were_ you."

"Get us up on top of the building across the street first."

" _Damn_ you, Arthur!" She 'ports them over, though, and doesn't drop the shield hiding them from view. "Talk. _Now_."

Arthur leans over the edge of the building and peers down intently. "Okay, do you see me down there?"

"Why would you be _down there_ when you're up…wait a minute," Kimiyo says, puzzled. "Why are you down _there?_ "

He follows her pointing finger to see Mosca slowly walking out of the main entrance. "Waller had me rebuild my tech, but instead of wiring a pair of gloves and a belt…I kind of made the world's most powerful nicotine patch." Without taking his eyes off of Mosca, Arthur lifts his shirt to display the patches decorating his side. "They still communicate with the belt and gloves, but the response time is a lot faster because of the direct contact. This set is for image transfer only, and at short range."

Kimiyo releases her death grip on his arm. "That still doesn't quite explain why you _ditched me_."

"Call me old-fashioned, but I'd prefer to keep the love of my life from rushing headlong into dangerous situations," Arthur murmurs. "You look good with an actual pulse, Miko." Below them, Mosca is still taking his sweet time leaving the protection of the crowd. "Come on, you fucking idiot - _run_."

She presses close to him. "If he runs, Flag's going to…" Kimiyo takes a startled breath. "Arthur? Did you send him out looking like you…just so Waller's snipers will kill him for you?"

Arthur curls his fingers around the brick façade and doesn't look over at her. "You knew I was being sent to kill that man, Kimiyo. Did you think this would end with dinner and a movie?"

"But, they’re going to _kill_ -"

He takes his eyes off of his doppelganger and looks at her. "They are going to kill _me_ , because they have been ready to kill _me_ for the past three hours. Waller's snipers aren't thinking what a shame it is to put a bullet in my head, because they don't care enough about anyone on the Squad to hesitate to murder any of us. It's their job to kill criminals. It's not supposed to be mine; not anymore. If I'm supposed to get past what I was forced to do - just to stay _alive_ , Jesus _Christ_ \- on Salvation, it's got to start by refusing to be what I was. It's bad enough that I have to live with knowing I'm the reason that man down there is about to die, but I gave him a choice. He picked the wrong option."

Kimiyo gazes back at him, horrified. "How many - how many did you…on Salvation?"

"Too many." This was the main reason he hadn't wanted her to know any details – not that this is a detail, but it certainly seems enough of one to make her look at him like that. Arthur turns away from that _look_ on her face because he can't stand to have it aimed at him any longer, and is just in time to see Mosca finally make a run for it. Arthur's victory is a hollow one as a shot rings out and the cultist is knocked onto his back, the contents of his head blown out behind him in a gory halo. Kimiyo is sobbing with horror next to him. "I'd better go down there," Arthur says quietly. 

He starts to turn towards the access door behind them, but she stops him by flinging herself into his arms. "Not yet, don't go-" Kimiyo trembles so hard, Arthur starts wondering if she's going into shock and he finds himself asking whether or not she's ever seen anyone killed in front of her before. Surely she has. Kimiyo burrows against him desperately and starts to cry again. "It's never been _you_."

"Oh," he says stupidly, because he'd never considered the effect it might have on her. "Just… _shit_ , just a second." Arthur reaches a hand inside his shirt and begins peeling off the circuitry patches as best he can while still keeping an arm around Kimiyo. The buzzing beneath his skin stops as the contact is finally broken, and Arthur strokes her hair. "Look down at him."

"I can't. It's…I just _can't_."

"Look, Miko. It's not me, okay? I need you to look down so that you can see… I'm not down there. I'm right here with you."

She draws in a shaking breath and seizes his hand in a strong grip. "Okay. It's stupid; I _know_ it's not you, but I spent six months imagining the same thing that just-" Kimiyo closes her eyes and breathes deeply. When she opens her eyes this time, she leans over to look down at John Mosca's dead body; it's already ringed by people taking pictures with their phone, and from their vantage point Arthur can see a few squad cars on their way over.

"I need to go," he repeats as Kimiyo pulls away from the edge and comes back into his arms. There's no way to tell exactly what she thinks about what he's halfway confessed to – all he can do at this point is hope that her horrified reaction was because she'd seen 'him' being slain right in front of her. Arthur can't afford to think that he'll finally be released from Belle Reve and she won't want anything more to do with him…so he doesn't make promises, and doesn't tell Kimiyo how much he loves her for fear that she won't respond. "Stay here until they come for me, okay?"

Kimiyo wipes at the tears still brimming in her eyes and nods wordlessly. A few of those tears spill over onto her cheeks as he steps back and Arthur's chest aches as he turns to leave.


	8. Chapter 8

The night she'd watched Arthur being slammed to the ground and arrested, Kimiyo had thought that it was one of the worst experiences she'd had in her life. Watching the back of his head explode from a sniper's bullet, though, makes everything else pale in comparison. It doesn't matter that it's not _really_ Arthur – her nightmares aren't going to make that distinction.

Kimiyo's still trembling as he leaves her, and she knows she should call him back just so he knows that she loves him, but it's impossible to form a coherent sentence when all she can see is how Arthur looks dead on the pavement. It's small comfort that he'd removed the link so that the body in the street now looks like it's supposed to; in Kimiyo's mind, it's always going to be Arthur toppling over with half his skull blown off. Will Amanda Waller honor her word to release him just so something like that can _truly_ happen to him? _Stop it_ , Kimiyo thinks, digging her nails into her palms and fighting for calm that comes far too slowly to be of any use to Arthur – she can't call out to him to provide any reassurance. She wipes away her tears angrily; there's no _time_ for this. 

Police are starting to cordon off the area and search for witnesses. Arthur walks out into the street and up to the edge of the yellow crime scene tape, staring down at the body before tilting his head back and looking up at where she's standing. Kimiyo gazes back down at him before realizing that he can't possibly see her. Maybe she could just go down and… but no, because Rick Flag is winding his way through the crowd and heading straight for Arthur. The two men talk for a few minutes before Flag shows his credentials to the nearest officer and points them towards the club – she doesn't stay to watch Arthur being taken back into custody. 

She wishes she had the strength to go down and let Arthur know that of _course_ she still loves him, but the calm determination she'd displayed earlier in the evening is too far gone from her grasp. Kimiyo knows that if she tried the same trick, she might well endanger his conditional release by betraying her presence because she can't count on Flag being completely understanding of their situation. 

Kimiyo teleports back to her apartment where she drags her gear from the closet and begins to clean it compulsively, then checks in on both children multiple times because she's somehow managed to convince herself that they've stopped breathing the instant she closes their room doors. It's too late at night to call anyone and she'd volunteer to take a shift on the Watchtower but she's not leaving the kids alone again tonight. She finally exhausts herself by constantly pacing the room because nothing on TV can hold her interest, but the moment she closes her eyes all that's there in the darkness is Arthur's body sprawled in the middle of the street.

Morning has never come so slowly.

Work helps take her mind off of the latest dip of the emotional roller coaster ride that is her relationship with Arthur these days. She knows she should probably call out sick; she has enough vacation days piled up to last at least a month. A steady diet of caffeine and pastry gets her through the day, then it's back-to-back after school activities with Yasu and Imako. Noah leaves her several voicemails that Kimiyo doesn't listen to until she's setting out ingredients for dinner – they're all of the cryptic _call me back now_ variety and she sighs as she returns his call.

" _Jesus, Kim, did you drop your phone in the goddamned toilet?_ " Calculator nearly screams.

"Hello to you as well, Noah. How was _your_ day?"

Noah actually _growls_ at her. " _I spent it erasing you from a certain nightclub's security footage, actually. Thank you so much for asking!_ "

Kimiyo fumbles her grip on the bagged salad, trying to snatch it out of the air before it hits the floor, but the chip clip on the top gets knocked off and lettuce goes everywhere. "Oh, no."

" _Oh, yes! Which is probably what both of you were saying in the women's bathroom; I certainly hope you crazy kids enjoyed yourselves_."

"Grow up, Noah. We didn't do anything in the women's bathroom."

" _I'm so sorry, I meant the men's room. I've been friends with that loser for many moons, Kimiyo, and he's passed his bad habits on to you. You can pretend you're invisible all you want to, but you morons keep forgetting that you still cast shadows…seriously, how many times have his schemes failed because he forgot about shadows?_ "

Oh. Kimiyo claps her free hand to her forehead. "Damnit. Listen, is that all you called to talk about? Somehow I doubt that all five missed calls are about sex in the men's bathroom."

" _Aha! I_ knew _you two were messing around in there!_ " Noah clears his throat. " _Seriously, though, I was just calling to let you know that he's being released next week…middle of the night, too. I had a little rummage through Belle Reve's database, and you are welcome_."

Kimiyo closes her eyes and slides down the refrigerator door, down to plop herself atop the lettuce leaves. "Oh, God. She's really letting him go. It _worked._ "

Noah sounds puzzled. " _Was it not supposed to? The only information I got about the mission was that Arthur eliminated the target._ "

"Mom? What's going on? Why are you sitting on the salad?" Yasu asks, coming over to stare at her. "I'm totally not eating that."

" _You're sitting on the salad? What the hell's going on over there?_ "

"It's Noah, honey. He's just calling to see if he can come over for dinner."

Calculator sounds appropriately panicked at this glaring falsehood. " _No offense, Kim, but Arthur clearly stated that-_ "

"Great," Kimiyo says loudly. "We'll expect you in about half an hour! See you soon, Noah!" She hangs up the phone without letting him get another word in edgewise, and makes Yasu set the table while she cleans up the salad and ropes Imako into burrowing into the back of the refrigerator because she's sure there's something decent hiding in there. 

There isn't anything decent hiding in there.

"What were you going to feed _us?_ " Imako finally asks, wrinkling her nose at the barely-filled tubs of leftovers.

Yasu grins. "Butt salad," he says, and both children immediately have a gigglefit.

"He's going to be here in less than ten minutes," Kimiyo says, running her hands through her hair and feeling the urge to start pulling it out by the roots. "Okay, I've got it! Imako, go get the noodles from the cupboard. Yasu, you start heating up the leftovers."

"Mom, _no_. He's gonna know it's not actual Japanese food. You can't just add noodles and say it's Japanese. It's racist."

"It is not. It's just called being _culturally insensitive and desperate_ ; get a move on!" Kimiyo slaps a pot of water on the stove and rips open the package of semi-dried udon. "We'll all go for burgers tomorrow, okay?" she asks, appalled at the fact that she has to bribe her own children like this.

"If you say so," Imako sighs, wrinkling her nose at the first containers that Yasu is pulling from the microwave. Kimiyo tasks her with opening the containers and stirring them, then filling up a pitcher with ice water. "This is like the game Arthur used to play with us, Leftover Roulette." 

Yasu laughs. "That game was so gross. One time I had to eat a peanut butter and scrambled egg sandwich."

They take turns reminiscing about the awful things they've eaten as a consequence of playing that particular game, and Kimiyo's draining the noodles when Noah presses the buzzer from outside the building. "Make sure that's him before you open the door," Kimiyo admonishes Imako, who is scrambling for the button. She groans and trudges off to peek through the window, and Kimiyo quickly dumps the noodles onto four separate plates and begins to arrange the leftovers. By the time Noah is handing his offerings – a greasy paper bag full of cheese fries and a bottle of seltzer water – to Yasu, she's put everything on the table and even added a garnish of freeze-dried chives. "Good evening, all," Calculator says, taking off his glasses and polishing them on the hem of his shirt.

"Noah! How nice of you to join us." Kimiyo smiles and watches in amusement as his brow furrows. "Please, come and sit."

He slides his glasses back on and uses his middle finger to settle them properly. "Wow, this looks nice. You must have been cooking for ages; everyone even has a different meal," Noah says, looking at the dishes arranged at the table. "Should I sit in a particular spot, or…?"

"You're our guest, so it's your choice," Kimiyo says sweetly. "Whichever plate interests you the most is just fine."

"Mommy, can I have some fries?" Imako begs. "I don't really want…that."

Yasu is also making begging eyes at her. "Get a clean dish and put the fries onto it for us _all_ to share," Kimiyo says sternly. "I have been cooking for ages, remember?"

" _Right_ ," Yasu snorts, then claps his hand over his mouth when she glares at him. "I mean…right. We can, uh, eat dinner and have some fries with it."

"Good choice," Kimiyo murmurs. Noah looks up from his scrutiny of the plates, and she smiles at him. "Yes, that is a _very_ good choice. You'll like that one!" 

The poor thing smiles right back at her, and sits down. "Excellent. You know, I can't remember when I've had actual _Japanese food_ before. Most of my experience with noodles comes from that ramen you make in a cup with hot water…this looks really _good_."

"I'm so glad you think so." Yasu snorts again, and Kimiyo whips around to glare down at him. " _Yasu_. Please find your _seat_."

They all join Noah at the table, and the kids immediately dig into the cheese fries. "I wasn't sure what you liked to drink," Noah confesses, sticking a fork into leftover pasta primavera. "But I had a bottle of seltzer water sitting around and figured I'd bring it over – I hope that's okay."

"It's more than okay," Kimiyo assures him, "It was very thoughtful of you! You can find the best things just _sitting around_ , don't you agree?" 

Yasu snorts into his water glass.

Calculator glances at him, then back at his plate. "This is really great, Kim. There's actually _two types_ of noodles – I've never seen that before. The flavors really go together, you know?"

"I've noticed that, yes."

They make small talk about the children's school activities, and a few heavily edited references to what Noah does for a living, before Kimiyo finally broaches the subject of Arthur's return. "If everything goes well, he'll be back with us next week. I'll ask the sitter to stay the night." Yasu seems cautiously pleased about this and Imako is ecstatic, especially when she's reminded that Arthur's letting her cut his hair. They _do_ object to having a 'sitter', because they are _obviously_ not babies anymore, but Noah offers his services. "If you don't mind bringing me over and taking me back, I'd be happy to stay for a while. I'm usually wide awake during the night anyway so I can come over for a few hours…y'know, in case you guys need to use the restroom."

Kimiyo narrows her eyes at him and, while she _had_ been considering fessing up to feeding him leftovers, she now decides to keep that information to herself. "Wonderful. Thank you so much, Noah. Imako, if you're not going to eat that perhaps Uncle Noah might like to finish it…?"

Her daughter immediately pushes her plate over to Calculator with a relieved sigh, and he wiggles his fingers. "Ooh. Don't mind if I do."

Noah winds up polishing off Yasu's dinner as well and, amazingly enough, he _still_ has room for the ice cream that Kimiyo pulls from the freezer. The kids wander into the living room to watch some television, and she keeps an eye on them as she moves to sit in the chair beside the bespectacled bottomless pit. "It sounds like you didn't catch anything on video about the last few minutes of that…mission," Kimiyo murmurs, and explains when Noah shakes his head.

"Jesus," Calculator breathes, glancing sharply over at her. "So you saw _him_ get…?"

"Yes. It was, um, a little intense," Kimiyo says quietly. "It helps that the plan worked, of course, but" she reaches up to tap her forehead "it's still in instant replay up here."

"I can only imagine. God, that's…that's rough. No wonder you didn't pick up when I called you." Noah sighs and picks up his spoon again. "Have you had any sleep?" Kimiyo shakes her head, and he bombards her with suggestions about bubble baths and lighthearted romantic comedies. "Seriously though, I'd be more than happy to keep an eye on things when you go pick him up…he _does_ know you're picking him up, right?"

"He'd better," Kimiyo says, and changes the subject after agreeing to call him before she arrives. "How much do you usually _eat?_ "

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Waller isn't happy with him, and isn't shy about letting him know it. Arthur will have to come up with new ways to outwit her the next time he's under her authority, if she even allows him on the Squad to begin with. He's just proved how useful he can be, no matter how furious she is with his trickery, and you don't discard useful tools. This last week is one of insidious punishment, however; no visitation or phone calls. Regular shower rotations shuffled and skewed mealtimes. No yard time, canceled library privileges, and an increasingly malfunctioning collar.

Arthur's hungry, dirty, and totally exhausted. Still, he's been through it before and knows how it goes…and _this_ time, he knows that it has an actual expiration date. He's just been shocked awake by the collar when the cell door slides open, and a guard shines the beam of a flashlight directly in his eyes. "Let's go, Light."

"…what?" he asks stupidly, because he'd been given to believe that he wasn't going to be released for another week. Tell grumbles in annoyance and rolls to face the wall.

"Get your stuff, and let's go. Showers first 'cause you smell like shit, then you're out… of course, if you wanna _stay_ …"

Arthur rolls out of the bunk and only pauses long enough to grab his towel, soap, and the packet of letters Kimiyo had sent him. "I'm up." He's escorted to the showers where he scrubs himself clean as quickly as humanly possible, because it would be just like Waller to snatch his freedom from him simply because he took too long. Arthur yanks on the clothes he'd been arrested in and is taken to the processing room where he signs all the necessary documents and takes possession of the last remaining pieces of personal property from the cardboard box marked with his name. The collar unlocks from his neck with a slight hissing noise, and he can't pull it off quickly enough.

The same woman who's processed him every time he's been released from Belle Reve slides the collar back into her booth. "See you next time, Art," the officer says as she buzzes the door open. "Need me to call a cab for you?"

"Think I'll walk this time. Have a good one, Sandra," Arthur replies. 

He walks through the door and down the long hall slowly, wondering anew about Kimiyo. Surely it's too late for her to be waiting for him out there in the street…if she'd even planned on waiting for him at all. The look on her face when he'd left her still haunts him; he's had plenty of time to think about it since the collar had kept him awake. Arthur debates the wisdom of calling Eobard; the speedster doesn't sleep much, but waking him up unnecessarily isn’t a smart move. The final door looms in front of him, and Arthur pauses for a moment before reaching out and hitting the push-bar with the heel of his hand.

It's cold outside, cold enough that his breath steams from his mouth, and Arthur's suddenly struck by the realization that he has no idea what season it's supposed to be. He'd lost track of time completely in Solitary and had been too busy worrying over his plan when in Gotham to truly pay attention to the weather…it _had_ been fairly cold there, now that he thinks of it. Arthur shoves his hands in his pockets and, with a final glance up at the prison walls, turns around to find Kimiyo standing there waiting for him with a smile that burns off the morning's chill. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi," she says, thrusting her hands out for him to take. "C'mon, in case Amanda changes her mind." Arthur walks forward and curls his fingers around hers an instant before she teleports them to a dimly lit parking lot. Kimiyo jumps into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and clinging tightly as she burrows her face into his neck. "You're really _here_."

Arthur squeezes her just as tightly, rubbing his free hand over her back. "Looks that way." They hold each other for several minutes, neither one willing to let go, but Arthur's stomach takes the opportunity to complain about how empty it is. "Sorry."

Kimiyo laughs and kisses his cheek, which isn't where he'd like her to kiss him but they really won't make it out of the parking lot at all if she gets anywhere close to his mouth. He's not wild about the possibility of being arrested for public indecency, either. "I was too nervous to eat," she confesses. "Noah's watching the kids…why don't we stop to get some food before we go home?"

"That sounds good," Arthur says, nuzzling into her hair and breathing in her scent. "You smell good, too…"

She wriggles out of his arms regretfully. "Don't start _that_ , or-"

"Or what?"

"You know what," Kimiyo laughs. "Food first, _then_ that."

They find a 24-hour diner a few blocks down, and Kimiyo cuddles up to him after they place their orders. "That one of the longest terms I've ever served, I think," Arthur says thoughtfully, running his fingers through the glossy fall of her hair. It feels like silk on his skin, and he tries not to focus on how nice it'll feel when they're in bed together…because he's dying to make love to her. Yet, wouldn't it actually be _better_ if they waited like they'd originally planned? Well, the planning was probably on his end only and he's forgotten to clue her into it. "Um, Miko?"

She rubs her cheek against his shoulder, eyes closed in contentment. "Hmm?"

"I…was thinking, d'you remember when we said we'd start out with a few dates?"

"Go on," Kimiyo prompts. Her hand is moving in circles on his thigh, and it's so distracting he's tempted to forget the whole idea. "What is it?"

"What if we, uh, waited until we had a couple of those dates?"

Her eyes pop open immediately. "You've got to be joking. This is a joke, right?"

"Well, _no_ , I was just thinking" Arthur pauses as the tired-looking waitress deposits their food in front of them "that if we just…continue…where we'd stopped, it's just not a very good foundation for a relationship. I'm probably saying this wrong." He stops again to scrub his hands over his face in frustration. "I guess what I'm really trying to say is that…god, Miko, I just…I just love you so much and I'd do anything it took to make sure I didn't fuck it up again. So waiting a little just feels _right_ to me somehow, like we're not cutting corners and really _trying_ \- does that make any sense?"

Kimiyo's gnawing on her lower lip, tapping her fingertips on the table as she thinks about it. "That kind of plan might have been a good idea to _let me know about_ last week, wouldn't it?"

" _Oh_ , I didn't mean - no, it was…don't laugh at me," Arthur sighs when she grins at him suddenly. 

"I'm really not," Kimiyo says, picking up her fork and digging it into the huge mound of cheese-covered pasta on her plate. "Teasing a little, only. I don't suppose you're going to tell me exactly when you're going to be ready to give it up."

This time he's the one smiling. "I dunno. When it's right, I think we'll both know."

"The first date had damn well better be tomorrow night then because I don't know about you, but I'm getting desperate." She puffs a strand of hair out of her face. "I'd planned on you sleeping in the bed with me tonight…this morning. Whatever an hour from now is."

Arthur starts eating, and nudges her with an elbow. "I never said I wouldn't help out. It's only fair, since last week was pretty one-sided; we'd be even."

"I love you," she sighs at him in relief, and he leans down to bump his forehead against hers affectionately.

She 'ports them back to her place after they've finished eating and settled the bill. Noah is camped out on the couch typing furiously on a laptop, momentarily lifting a hand in greeting before going right back to typing. "Hey, kids. Good bathroom break, huh?"

"Shut up, Noah," Kimiyo says cheerfully. "Ready to head back?"

Noah smiles and finishes up whatever he's been doing, closing the computer and hopping up with his hand extended. "Hey, it's Grizzly Adams."

"Funny. C'mere, you piece of shit," Arthur says, yanking the slighter man forward for a rib-cracking hug. "Thanks for keeping an eye on the kids."

"This is the kind of babysitting I'm good at – everyone's asleep and _quiet_. Best gig in town," Noah jokes. "Maybe we can get together this weekend after Kim Jr. shears you like a sheep. I'll bring some aftershave to slap onto the baby face hiding beneath all that hair."

Arthur laughs and promises to make plans for something – as long as it's not breaking any laws, of course. "I've got to figure out what happened to my apartment; my lawyer said she sublet it, or something, I can't remember exactly…but yeah, I'll give you a call in a few days after I get settled. You still like Indian food, right?"

"Yeah, absolutely…but anything's fine. Kimiyo made me dinner just the other night; did she tell you? I've never had Japanese before but it was amazing."

He glances over at Kimiyo with another laugh. "What'd you do, put leftovers on top of noodles and tell him it was Japanese?" Kimiyo's glare signifies that yes, that is _exactly_ what she did, and that he's just landed himself into hot water by mentioning it. Noah frowns, looking between them suspiciously. "I…mean, _yes_ , I'm sure it was great. She's great. You're great," Arthur makes sure to inform her, and is relieved when she gives him a thumbs-up.

"Let's get you home now, shall we?" Kimiyo says.

"Sounds great. Good to see you, Artie – glad you're back with us."

"See you later," Arthur says, casually miming a salute. 

They disappear in a wash of light, and Arthur wanders around the place to see what's new since he was there last. Yasu's math homework is sitting at the boy's customary spot at the table, so Arthur sits down to go through it because it doesn't feel right to simply go into Kimiyo's bedroom without her there. He quickly spots a few mistakes and grabs a pen to scratch them out before adding the correct answers. "You shouldn't do that," Kimiyo says from over his shoulder, leaning in close to kiss his temple. "He won't learn if you just fix it for him."

"Maybe not, but it might make him like me more," Arthur murmurs, capping the pen and tossing it down on the table. "That was fast – did you just drop him and run?"

She grabs his hand and starts guiding him towards the bedroom. "Something like that." Kimiyo tosses the same stupid cartoon pajama bottoms at him, laughing at him when he makes a face. "Give me just a minute, okay? Just get comfortable."

Arthur stifles a yawn and nods as he starts to get undressed. She vanishes into the master bathroom after he yanks on the Spongebob pants, and he gets into her bed for the first time in almost a year. It's so much softer than the bunks in Belle Reve; Arthur fights to keep his eyes open, but he's so tired and actually feels _comfortable_ for once. He'll just close his eyes for a minute. Just for a minute…

He wakes in darkness and feels disoriented for several moments before he remembers where he is. There's none of the ever-present noise from the other prison tiers, just the slow breathing of the woman lying next to him. Arthur lifts himself up on an elbow to peer past her at the clock on her side of the bed – it's almost four, which means he's only slept for an hour. He eases closer to Kimiyo, who murmurs in her sleep and shifts backwards against him. Arthur gently eases the strap of her nightgown from her shoulder so that he can lean down and place a kiss there, breathing in the warm scent of her skin and moving to rest his chin atop of her head. 

Everything about her wraps itself around him speaking of safety, love, and home. He matches his breathing to hers unconsciously, and falls asleep curled around the most important person in his world.


	9. Chapter 9

When the alarm goes off Kimiyo opens her eyes to find that, sometime during the night, Arthur has invaded her side of the bed. She reaches out to hit the off button, only to have him reel her back in. "Sweetheart, I've got to-"

"Nuh-uh," he mumbles, making her flinch as his beard tickles her. Arthur's hand runs down her side and around her stomach, his fingers bunching the silky fabric of her nightgown up until his palm is flat against her skin. Kimiyo shivers as he moves his hips to spoon her, pressing with his hand so that her bottom is firmly tucked against Arthur's erection. "You feel so good."

Kimiyo casts a look at the bedroom door, hoping that she'd remembered to lock it, and grabs his hand to steer it between her legs. Arthur groans into her hair at finding her so wet, and curls his fingers up inside her pussy. "Oh, God. _Arthur_ …" he fucks her with his fingers until Kimiyo's shoving her own fingers into her mouth in a desperate bid to stay quiet, then slides down to bury his face in her crotch. She's forced to grope for his pillow and hold it down over her face so that she can scream into it. Arthur slides his hands beneath her ass, holding her against that talented mouth as he licks and sucks her folds. She frees a hand to reach down for his hair, gathering a handful of it and pulling on it as her hips writhe uncontrollably. "I'm so close, oh my _god_ …!"

"What was that? All I heard was _mrmphhh mrg mffff_ ," Arthur laughs as he comes up for air. Thankfully he quickly returns to his task, and her momentary irritation is lost within the crest of pleasure that rises inside her. 

She comes with a full-throated scream that's mostly muffled by the pillow she's still holding over her face. Kimiyo pushes it aside weakly and reaches to touch the top of his head, panting and shaking while he wrings the last shudders from her. "Oh, wow," she breathes.

Arthur kisses the inside of each thigh before climbing back up to lie down beside her. "Good morning."

"It is now," Kimiyo laughs. "Do you want me to-?"

He looks vaguely embarrassed. "I already did."

"What are you… _oh_."

"It's, uh, it's been a while."

She cuddles against his chest, rubbing his stomach. "Well, I had sex with you while you were still locked up." Kimiyo explains about the light double, and swats at him when he laughs. "I'm trying to make you feel better – you don't get to laugh at me."

"Sorry," Arthur says insincerely. "Listen, I'm gonna go shower so the kids don't bust in here and find me in bed with you. Wanna share the water?"

Kimiyo shakes her head. "I'll take one after they're in school, or they really _will_ be coming in here. There's still some of your clothes in the closet on the left." She kisses him and rolls over to watch Arthur stretch before getting out of her bed. "Just leave your pants on the floor in there; I have to wash the towels later so I'll just do it all at once." He disappears into the bathroom for his shower, and Kimiyo dresses quickly so that she can get out to the kitchen before the children come in.

She's digging through the fridge when Yasu yawns his way down the stairs, coming into the kitchen to fling himself into his seat. "Is he here?"

"Arthur is in the shower, and good morning to you too," Kimiyo says. "What do you want to eat?"

"Are _you_ gonna make it, or is Arthur?"

"Make it yourself, smartass."

Imako zooms down the stairs. "Is he here? Is his _hair_ here? Where are my scissors, this is the best day of my whole _life_."

"He's taking a shower because he smells like prison," Yasu says unhelpfully, getting up from the table to look for the cereal. "Mom? What _does_ prison smell like? I bet it's that old people smell or, like, stale underwear." 

"Don't be ridiculous. The visitor room doesn't smell at all."

"Of course it doesn't. They probably clean it right before you go in there," her son insists. 

The debate rages unchecked until Arthur comes out, and Imako pounces on him with a shriek of pure delight. "Ohayou gozaimasu, obaasan."

"Oniisama! Sit down so I can cut your hair!"

"Arthur, what does prison smell like?" Yasu demands.

"…what?"

Kimiyo shrugs. "Don't ask me. I said it didn't smell at all."

"Are you kidding? It smells to high heaven in there," Arthur says, sitting down and allowing Imako to give him pigtails. "It's, um…okay, have you ever farted into a Tupperware container and then sealed it really fast?"

Yasu starts giggling wildly. "Do you do that?"

"Arthur," Kimiyo interrupts. "Don't be disgusting. It's not even eight o'clock yet."

He looks at her, as wide-eyed and innocent as a supervillain could ever possibly be. Imako carefully slides a multicolored barrette into the hair of his beard. "I'm just answering a _question_."

"So _do_ you? What happens when someone opens the lid?" Yasu asks, leaning over the table eagerly.

"I'll have your mom get one ready for you to open as soon as you get home from school-"

"Arthur _Sinclair!_ "

"The point is: it just gets worse. One time my cousin got me with a two-quart container she'd saved for a week and I almost died…"

Yasu nearly falls out of his chair laughing and Kimiyo tries not to laugh, too, because she's supposed to be the role model here and it won't do to encourage them. Only Arthur is capable of ingratiating himself to her children by a mixture of hairdressing and fart jokes. He further wins their esteem by making French toast – pigtails, barrettes and all – and lets Imako saw off a chunk of hair before they leave for school. "You're gonna be here when we get home, right?" Imako says, eyeing the fistful of Arthur's hair with satisfaction.

"Of course – I've got a haircut scheduled, don't I?" Arthur gives her a hug and Yasu hovers by the table, clearly unsure where he stands until Arthur holds out a fist. "Good luck on that paper."

Yasu bumps knuckles with Arthur with a look of relief. "Thanks."

The door closes behind the children as they head out to the bus stop, and Kimiyo comes around the table for a kiss. "I like the pigtails. Very manly…what're you up to, today?"

Arthur reaches up to take the glittery hair ties out carefully. "I need to get in touch with Ellie about my apartment and then see if anything's been stolen, I guess. What about you? Are you working today?"

She can't tell whether he wants her to be working, or not. "I haven't really decided, but I might go in later…"

"We could, uh, spend the day together. If you wanted to, I mean," Arthur says, not looking at her as he ties his hair back out of his face. "It'd be the last gasp of Farmer's Market Hot, and if you went to work you'd miss out."

Kimiyo smiles and leans down to rest her cheek against the top of his head. "That sounds good. Let's do that, then."

He goes into the living room to call his lawyer, who apparently hadn't even been notified of his release, and makes plans to meet up with her later in the afternoon. Kimiyo drifts back into the bathroom for her shower and when she comes to get dressed, Arthur is sitting on the edge of the bed with the baby blanket in his hands. "It's so _small_."

Kimiyo nods, feeling the tears start to well in her eyes as she sits down beside him. Even after all this time, the pain still won't go away completely. "I didn't even know, at first; the baby looked…like a _baby_ , with arms and legs. Artie, it still feels like it's my _fault_ -"

"No," Arthur interrupts, pulling her into his arms. "No, it wasn't. It was mine." She looks up sharply, intending to chastise him for such a ridiculous statement, and he shakes his head at her. "It was _mine_ , because…look, you know how we had Chemo on the squad before? That thing puts out an absurd amount of radiation, and I signed a waiver. So any pregnancy that I'm involved in is automatically nonviable."

She presses her face against his chest. "But there's a chance that it _could_ be."

"I really don't know, Miko. I just…I just feel like shit, because I've caused you so much trouble already. That's all I really seem to be any good at." Arthur combs through her hair with his fingers. "I never thought of myself as a father because I knew I'd be terrible at it, and this pretty much proves it."

"That doesn't prove anything." Kimiyo looks up at him, feeling angry now. "I hate that you couldn't have been here to know. I hate that the President thought he could play with your life that way…Arthur?"

He sighs, like he knows what she's going to ask him. "Not here."

"The living room, then."

"Okay."

They settle side-by-side on the couch, and Kimiyo angles herself so that she can see his face. "I think it's time you told me what happened to you."

Arthur rubs his hands over his face. "You're not going to like it."

"I understand that. Artie, a part of me doesn't even want me to ask…but I really do need to know, and I think that you need to be the one who tells me. If we're going to move forward, the past can't keep holding us back." Kimiyo laughs humorlessly. "I was telling myself that we could wait to have this conversation until you actually look like _you_ again, but I think we should talk about it first."

He nods. "I suppose that makes sense. Will you…tell _me_ everything?"

Kimiyo knows he's referring to the miscarriage and, despite the fact that she doesn't want to even _think_ about it anymore, he does deserve to know. Maybe talking about it will finally bring about the same measure of healing that she hopes will happen for Arthur. "Yes. Yes, I will."

Arthur's silent for several minutes, but Kimiyo doesn't press him to start since she can tell that he's trying to think of where to begin. His brow furrows and he looks at her with eyes that aren't really seeing her at all…and then he starts to speak. "They'd taken the Rogues first; I think they'd been there for about two weeks when we started to arrive. A lot of us didn't even know they were even gone, just assuming that they were off somewhere plotting to take down the Flash again, for the millionth time…" 

His recital of events continues for almost two hours, and Kimiyo can't believe what she's hearing. "…and they were going to leave him to die there, but I suggested that we pick him up and carry him back to the camp," Arthur says, looking away from her. "He thought I was trying to save him, even though he _had_ to know…I mean, what a fucking idiot, right? His intestines were literally _hanging out_ , and he thought he stood a chance. We weren't very far off from camp when more creatures came out of the trees, and there was no way we'd make it carrying him, so I…I _told_ them to throw him over."

Kimiyo presses her hand over her mouth, a reaction Arthur doesn't miss. "So he was still alive when-"

"Yeah."

She knows it's a good sign that he's clearly not proud of it – in fact, Arthur looks absolutely miserable even talking about it. It's one of the most appalling things she's ever heard and, while she can't imagine that _she_ could ever have done such a thing, Kimiyo's never been in a situation like that and hopes to never find herself in one. "This is why you didn't want to talk about Salvation, isn't it? What you're telling me right now, you thought it would change the way I felt about you."

"I don't know how it _couldn't_ ," he says unhappily. "I knew some of those things would still come after us, and I _knew_ we'd have a chance to get away by using him as bait."

"Did you consider, um, _euthanizing_ him and still bringing his body along as that bait?"

Arthur's shoulders hunch, and his fingers dig into his leg. "No. They always preferred live prey – they'd eat him anyway, but they liked…they liked it better when their food was still moving."

"Then it doesn't seem to me like you had much of a choice. Was it barbaric and awful - _yes_. I hate that you had to do something like that, and while I also hate that you're hurting over it…I think it's good that it's able to haunt you." Kimiyo pushes her hand through the damp tangle of his hair to grip the back of his neck. "I couldn't love you if you _didn't_ have nightmares over this, sweetheart. It shows what a good man you really are. Neither of us can change what happened, and I'm sorry for it…but we can move past it. It's not going to be easy, but we're together and we're going to stay that way."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

It's like an invisible weight has been lifted from his chest, and he can breathe for the first time in almost two full years. Instead of being rightfully disgusted at the choices he's been forced to make, Kimiyo has met his confessions with nothing but love and understanding. It's so much more than he deserves and Arthur finds himself stunned once again by fact that someone like her can even _exist_ , let alone choose to be near him. Arthur details J'onn's imprisonment, and how he'd given himself away in the first place…then he tells her about volunteering to power Luthor's teleporter, which was essentially a bargain basement Boom Tube. Most of _this_ is something she actually knows about, since it led to his metagene's burnout, but what he'd never shared with anyone is how he felt realizing that he'd been tricked. "We were all just _tied_ there. I guess he thought we couldn’t be trusted to wait until everyone else was through, but Grodd lured us beneath the platform with visions; I don't know what the others saw, but I'd gone because I thought it was our turn to go through."

Arthur tells her of discovering that he wasn't as tightly secured as the other six, and of escaping just before the device self-destructed. "Do you think Grodd wants some kind of favor from you?" Kimiyo wonders aloud. "That's quite a debt."

"Given that he's the one who tied me up in there to begin with, I'm not sure I see it the same way you do…he could have just been afraid you'd find out what he did," Arthur says. The vast majority of the supervillain community has always been careful around Kimiyo ever since their relationship became public knowledge, and for good reason. One of the only villains who still seems insistent upon trying his luck with this is Shadow Thief.

There _is_ something that bothers him about his 'help' from Grodd, though, but he's not about to stoke her fears by admitting it.

They talk more about his ordeal and the focus shifts to his burnout; Arthur still feels sensitive about it and Kimiyo knows it, but she's one of the only people he trusts enough to truly discuss it. She wants him to go up to the Watchtower to get tested, something he still refuses to even consider – he's through being a test subject and doesn't need to get his hopes up only to have them dashed again. He's lived the first thirty-seven years of his life without his light powers…he'll get used to not having them anymore. 

The focus shifts back to Kimiyo, because it's finally her turn to fill him in on exactly what he'd missed, and Arthur's heart aches for her as she tells him what it had been like to discover that she was pregnant with their child. They both have tears in their eyes when Kimiyo finishes telling him about the miscarriage, and he pulls her into his arms as he apologizes yet again for being the architect of her misery. He'd never thought anything like that could ever happen; he's supposed to be sterile. It's heartbreaking to realize that things aren't quite that simple and that both of them would have welcomed the child had it thrived. They should have been someone's parents.

Arthur doesn't really know what to _say_ to her except that he's sorry and wishes that it had never happened. The only reason he'd never considered a vasectomy was because of his supposed sterility, after all. She seems more at peace with it now that she's shared the experience that should have included him, and he knows that feeling quite well.

They curl up together on the couch, having finally run out of words to say even though there's still plenty to think about. They've been talking for hours now; when Arthur glances at the clock, he can see that it's already time for lunch and he'll need to leave soon to meet his lawyer, but all he wants to do is stay here and hold her. "Miko," he says cautiously, wondering at the wisdom of bringing this up, "I was thinking…"

"Never a good sign," Kimiyo murmurs reflexively. "What about?"

"About the - the baby. D'you think you'd ever want to, um, try again? I mean, I'm not trying to pressure you into anything but…I'm pretty sure there's some way to make sure-"

She twists to stare up at him. "Are you serious?"

"I'm just saying that if you really _wanted_ another baby…with _me_ …there's gotta be ways to make that happen." Arthur coughs into his fist, unnerved by the way she's looking at him so intently. He just wants to get the idea out there because it's closely connected to what they've just been talking about…and he might not know how to broach the subject later. "I mean, I'm not suggesting that I try to get you pregnant right now or anything, it's just…if you ever decide that's what you want, I'll support you."

Kimiyo looks like she's about to start crying again. "I don't think that's something we need to worry about just now, but it means a lot to me that you'd be willing to try for another baby."

"Well, you know me – there's nothing I love better than _trying_ for one," Arthur jokes, making her laugh.

"That is true," she says. "About that…when is our first date?"

Arthur reaches out to hook a stray chunk of hair behind her ear. "How about right now? I'll take you out to eat; wherever you want."

"It should be your choice – you're the one who's had nothing but slop all this time.”

He thinks about it for a minute. “Do you remember that restaurant we got kicked out of? What about there?” Arthur doesn’t particularly _want_ to eat there, but it’s not prison food and maybe it would be good to show her that he really is trying. “I need to meet up with Ellie after, if you wouldn’t mind taking me.”

“Of course not.” Kimiyo looks as if she wants to ask him about his money situation, and he’s relieved when she doesn’t do it. They’ve always had an unspoken arrangement about not seriously discussing the state of each other’s bank accounts – it’s one of the only things in their relationship that’s truly off-limits.

Lunch is a lot better than he expected; it’s been long enough that no one remembers him, though that may just be because there aren’t many employees working midday. Arthur bribes a member of the staff to bring Kimiyo some flowers, and the whole thing is cheesy as hell, but it makes her smile and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her happy. 

“Do you remember our first date?” Arthur asks, reaching across the table to nudge the small votive candle towards her. “There was a candle there, too.”

Kimiyo looks up from her flowers. “That’s right. I dared you to light it for me, and you did.”

“I could do it again, if you want,” Arthur says.

“Artie…don’t.”

“I’m serious; dare me to light that candle, and I’ll do it.”

She stares at him, then sighs. “Fine. I dare you to light the candle.” 

Arthur immediately reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a cigarette lighter with a flourish, and Kimiyo crams her face back into the flowers as she struggles not to laugh. “Just you watch, I’ll-” he flicks the lighter and nothing happens. “-show you how _not_ to do it. Hang on, I’ll get it this time.” This time, some sparks show up to the party, but no flame. “ _Jesus_.”

Kimiyo’s battle to keep from laughing becomes a losing one, and pretty soon she’s in hysterics as Arthur continues to try to operate the treacherous cigarette lighter. “Let…let me see it,” she hoots at him. 

“No, I’m going to do it! Just…oh, come _on_ …!” Arthur glares at the damned thing and flicks it again, as hard as he can. This time, it works well enough for the whole thing to explode in his hand as the butane ignites all at once. He jerks his hand back in surprise and then they’re both frantically trying to do something about the burning tablecloth. “Shit, we’re gonna get kicked out again! Put your water on it or something,” Arthur says desperately.

They get the fire put out and Arthur has to explain to the manager what had happened, tapping his finger on the melted remains of the lighter. He leaves a generous enough tip that should prevent them from being asked to never come in again, though he's not sure either of them will ever really want to. Kimiyo is unusually subdued, and Arthur has to wonder if the accident is a serious setback for them – he hadn't _meant_ for anything like that to happen; it was the lighter's fault. "Did you, uh, _feel_ anything strange right before the lighter exploded?" she finally asks as they're walking out.

He glances down at her, but Kimiyo has her flowers held up to her face again and he can't read her expression. "What do you mean? I was kind of irritated that the damn thing put me on the spot like that," he says.

"No, that's not what I mean. Just before it happened, I could have sworn I felt…it could be nothing, but that's just what I thought when we were in that _club_."

"If you were feeling anything other than well-deserved alarm, I'd think that was strange too," Arthur laughs sheepishly. "God, what a disaster."

Kimiyo stops to look up at him. "I'm serious. In the club, your eyes glowed. Just now, I felt your power surge – it's the one thing that's totally unmistakable, Arthur."

"Look, Miko, don't do this…okay? It's gone, I'm burnt out, and wishful thinking isn't going to make me what I was," Arthur sighs. "I understand that you want to help, but I've finally accepted that my powers are gone and they're not coming back. There's no need for any tests, and there are plenty of explanations for what you thought you might have seen. Please, just let it go."

She immediately looks stubborn about it, which makes him sigh again. "I know what I felt."

"I know what you _wanted_ to feel," he allows. "If I wanted to make myself crazy – and I've never been too far from it – I could attribute every little thing as my metagene starting back up again, and believe me…I wouldn't complain if it did. Let's just not talk about it anymore."

Kimiyo still looks rebellious, and gives in less than graciously. "I know I'm right."

"You usually are," Arthur says. _Not in this case, though._

"Don't you forget it, Mister. Ready to head over to Ellie's?" He nods and she slips her hand into his, teleporting them neatly into a corner inside the front lobby of the law firm. The receptionist does a double take before removing her glasses to clean them on the hem of her shirt.

Ellie _also_ does a double take upon seeing him with Kimiyo and shoots him a questioning glance, waiting for his nod to start going over his case. He'll have a court appearance in a week to officially wipe his latest slate clean, and is on unofficial probation until then…unofficial because Squad members technically don't serve any sort of probation but before they're cleared, any criminal activity is met with a zero tolerance policy the likes of which garden-variety convicts have never seen.

She's had his apartment magically sealed and kept the rent payments current by utilizing some sort of direct debit he doesn't remember authorizing, but then again he was probably hungover at the time. It's good to know that he was able to actually do something _right_ at that point in time. Arthur doesn't have to worry about eviction or property theft and he still has plenty of money available, so he figures that his bank account can definitely take the hit. Ellie goes over the terms of his release and promises to draw together a list of licensed therapists for the mental health requirement proviso, which Kimiyo volunteers to look over.

They spend more time at his apartment talking and Kimiyo looks as if she'd dearly love to bring up his metagene again, but she restrains herself and redirects her energy into trying to make him break his 'no sex' rule instead. Arthur finds himself sorely tempted and is just about to give in when she decides that _she_ doesn't want to, to his annoyed relief. They're tangled together on his bed, barely dressed, and he's desperately trying to rein in his suddenly rampaging libido. "How are you going to handle your beard?" Kimiyo asks, sounding out of breath but looking as if she knows he was about ten seconds away from abstinence abolishment. "It's going to be hard to reshape it, isn't it?"

"I'll just shave everything off and regrow it, probably. I hope you like stubble," Arthur says, closing his eyes so that he doesn't have to look at how her breasts are nearly spilling from her bra. "Put those away if you're not going to let me near them."

"I thought you wanted to wait for the right time," she teases him, twining a strand of his hair around a finger. 

Arthur reminds her that he's never been good at waiting. "I changed my mind. This is now the right time."

"Actually, it's almost time for your haircut," Kimiyo points out, sitting up and looking for her clothing. "I don't suppose you can stay for dinner afterward?"

"You mean, you don't suppose I can stay to _make_ dinner afterward?"

"…yes?"

He snorts and tosses her shirt on top of her head. "Fine."


	10. Chapter 10

They arrive back at the apartment scant moments before the kids come barreling through the door. "Haircut time," Imako screeches excitedly. Kimiyo watches in amusement as Arthur is herded into the kitchen. "Mommy? We're gonna need a cape," Imako says decisively, putting hands on hips and puckering her lips as she stares up at her victim. "There's gonna be hair _everywhere_."

"Where are your scissors?" Kimiyo asks, fishing a clean garbage bag from the cabinet. "I know you had your heart set on using the glitter ones, but I just don't think they'll work that well." Arthur eyes her apprehensively as she rips a hole in the bottom of the bag and hands it over.

"Are you trying to imply something about me being garbage? Is that it?" he asks.

She just looks at him as he sits down on the small footstool Imako brings out for him. "There's no way we're using my cape for this – it's white, in case you've forgotten. Don't start just yet, sweetie, I've got to get the camera first."

" _No,_ " Arthur complains.

"Every historic occasion should be properly documented, so shut up," Kimiyo says cheerfully, grabbing her camera and heading back to take a seat on one of the kitchen counters. There's also a pretty good chance that Imako is going to create an absolutely hilarious hairstyle, but she keeps that thought to herself. 

Her daughter trots back out as Arthur resigns himself to pulling the trash bag over his head and shoulders and Imako carefully sets out several combs, three pairs of scissors – including the glittery ones – and an impressive array of multicolored hair ties. "That's some weather we've got out there, huh?" Imako says. "How 'bout them bulls?"

"Uh…which ones?"

Imako pauses. "The ones in the _field_."

"I have no idea. I'm going to go ahead and say they're having a good day today," Arthur says, glancing over at Kimiyo before Imako yells at him for moving.

Kimiyo laughs until her sides hurt as her daughter fills the kitchen with nonsensical 'small talk' while she hacks at Arthur's hair with the zeal of an axe murderer. There truly _is_ hair everywhere and Kimiyo gets quite a few good pictures of Arthur with a multitude of ponytails sticking up in every direction before Imako finally gets tired. "That's just too much hair," her daughter sighs. "He broke my scissors, and I need a snack."

"Go wash your hands and put your things away first," Kimiyo directs her, and passes Arthur a damp towel to wipe his face. "That _is_ a lot of hair. I love the little hair ties though, they're so cute." She gets out the clippers and hands them to Arthur along with a portable mirror. "Get rid of that beard, and I'll do the rest."

Arthur makes short work of his beard, though he'll still need to shave off the stubble, and Kimiyo sets out a snack for Imako before coming over and taking the clippers from her lover's hand. "Thanks," Arthur says, and she'd kiss him but doesn't want a mouthful of loose hair. "I was thinking that I could take you out this weekend to someplace unbearably romantic."

"Really? Where?"

"Pizza Land. How about it?"

"You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet…lean forward." Kimiyo thumbs the on switch and runs the clippers up the back of his head, causing the uneven tufts to slough away down the garbage bag and onto the floor. "Now there's something I haven't seen in forever," she teases, tapping the back of his neck.

Arthur reaches a hand back to touch it, then has to wipe his fingers off because they're coated in his hair. "I'll probably need at least three showers to get all of this off my skin."

Imako comes back to dig through the fridge and loudly hint about what she wants to eat for dinner, and Yasu makes an appearance to grouse about the mess on the kitchen floor, so Kimiyo points him towards the broom and makes him start sweeping. "I don't want to hear any complaining about it; he did your homework for you, and you didn't even bother saying thank you," she says.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks," Yasu mumbles.

"No problem, and are you _trying_ to cut off my ear?" Arthur demands as Kimiyo starts to finish up the left side of his head. She pinches him in retaliation and runs her fingers through his newly shorn hair to make sure it's even before deciding to just give him a Caesar cut in front. Arthur has his eyes closed so that nothing will get into them, but Kimiyo remembers how much he's always liked it when she plays with his hair so she caresses the side of his neck to make him open his eyes and look at her. "Do I look good?"

Kimiyo smiles at him, feeling as if her heart has just grown three sizes. "You always look good to me."

"Gross," Yasu complains. "I'm still _right here_."

"What your mom is telling you is that I'm what's known as dark and handsome. When it's dark, I'm handsome." 

Arthur tries for a kiss, but Kimiyo fends him off with the clippers. "We'll clean up here – you go clean up and shave so that we can go to the grocery store."

"D'you think he'll make some cupcakes, too? He makes good cupcakes," Imako says, taking a huge bite out of the bagel she's pulled out of the fridge. "We haven't had cupcakes in _ten years_."

"I'm not sure it's been _that_ long, but we can ask if he won't mind making some for us," Kimiyo allows. "Arthur might just want to go home after dinner so that he can have some time to himself." This last is added for Yasu's benefit so that he doesn't embarrass her by asking Arthur about it. Her son looks very thoughtful at this bit of news, but pretends to be fully invested in finishing up his homework.

She finishes sweeping up all of the hair, takes out the trash (she wouldn't put it past one of the children to knock the can over and then they'd have to clean the mess up all over again), and is talking to Yasu about his day when Arthur comes back in. Kimiyo gazes up at him, another absurd swell of love filling her as she admires how good he looks. _You really do always look good to me,_ she thinks. "I decided to keep the goatee," Arthur says unnecessarily, keeping his eyes on her as he moves towards the table. "I was too frightened to see what my chin really looks like these days."

"Maybe there's a wart on there, like witches have," Imako says, cramming the rest of the bagel into her mouth and chewing loudly. "Kwn mmph hffph rphfiss?"

"What was _that?_ Have you been hanging out with Zatanna again?" Arthur asks, leaning across the table and tapping his finger over the correct answer on Yasu's paper. "This one, because of the…see right here?"

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that."

Kimiyo gets up to write the grocery list and Imako's repeated request for cupcakes is granted because, as it turns out, Arthur hasn't had them in ten years _either_. There's a spirited debate over which flavor – he wants lemon and she wants chocolate, but they finally compromise on strawberry and shake hands to seal the deal. Once the list is finished and everyone is pulling their coats on, they make the pilgrimage to the closest supermarket. Arthur holds her hand while Imako and Yasu run ahead, and he laughs when she keeps staring up at him. "That old saying about a picture lasting longer was made for times like this."

"Sorry," she apologizes. "It's just…it's been a while since I've seen you like this."

"I'm going to guess that you like me better this way."

Kimiyo sways against him, and ducks close to wrap her arm around his waist. "That's hard to say…I got used to Hairy Arthur, and you're definitely a lot different without that wild mop on your head. I don't know, I'm just glad that we finally _talked_." It had been tough, that much is certain, and there's still work to be done on their relationship…but their love is still very much in evidence and she's incredibly grateful for it. "I love you so damned much, Artie."

He stops, right there on the sidewalk, and kisses her so thoroughly that she has to wind her arms around his neck to remain upright. " _Gross_ ," Yasu howls. "Mom! _No!_ Arthur, stop it!"

Arthur continues until she's in danger of being reduced to a boneless puddle on the pavement, then comes up for air. "Oniisama, was that your _tongue_ -"

Yasu's ensuing screech makes them all laugh. " _Nooooo!_ "

"Oh, yeah…" Arthur butts his forehead against hers gently. "I love you, too."

They grin at each other like idiots while the children continue down the street, and Kimiyo is tucked back beneath the warmth of Arthur's arm as soon as her legs start working properly once more. "So, after the thrilling romantic dinner at Pizza Land…what next?"

"Oh, I thought we'd do the full movie montage. You know those movies where you see them going on about thirty dates in two minutes with some kind of peppy love song playing in the background?" Arthur asks. "We'll have to go get some ice cream, kiss in the rain, play on a swing set in a darkened area of the park while an old bald security guard with a flashlight tells us we're trespassing…"

"…with his faithful Basset Hound at his side…"

"Yeah! Of course we'll have wrap things up with a surprise bout of skinny-dipping in Bruce Wayne's pool." Arthur pauses with a frown. "Maybe _that's_ where the Basset Hound comes in."

Kimiyo laughs at the thought of that happening anywhere near Wayne Manor. "I think you just spoiled the surprise of it by telling me where we're going."

"Of course not. It's still a surprise for Bruce, because he has no idea what we'll be up to in there…you're not allergic to chlorine or anything, are you?" They both laugh at the idea of sneaking into Batman's pool, and the kids come back to chide them for walking so slowly.

Their shopping is accomplished in just a few minutes, or so it seems to Kimiyo – she'd sent her son and daughter off with half of the list and spent more time than strictly necessary canoodling with Arthur in the baking aisle. She teleports home with the bags while he escorts her children home, and then goes back to meet them after everything perishable has been put away properly. Arthur seizes her and lifts her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry but Kimiyo only gives him some half-hearted swats because it feels so good to be able to play around like this again. 

Her doorman buzzes them through with an indulgent smile and a friendly greeting. Arthur immediately challenges Imako and Yasu to a race up the stairs. There's a great deal of shrieking and laughter as they charge up the steps, and Arthur refuses to put Kimiyo back down when she demands it but doesn't skimp on the complaints of how heavy she is.

Dinner is made and devoured in record time, and Yasu very nearly waxes poetic about a meal that wasn't created by Kimiyo. She'd put more energy into being offended, but she's happy about it too, and drags him into her bedroom for an enthusiastic show of gratitude the instant the children are in bed. It's like she's a teenager again, back to groping and lusty makeouts that skirt the boundaries of actual sex. They're all over each other and though Kimiyo would love for their passionate clinch to go a few steps further, she understands the feeling of wanting to wait until it's really _right_. She'll just deal with her frustration later.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

There's no way he's going to make it an hour longer, let alone three more dates. He should've just pointed out that she'd given it up on their very first date, and their lunch disaster qualified as a date even though it hadn't gone as planned. Maybe he can just blame this whole thing on that defective cigarette lighter, Arthur thinks. He's been pacing back and forth for the last ten minutes, forcing himself not to call her and ask if he could spend the night after all. _No, it's going to be even better this way. I can wait,_ he tells himself sternly.

The fresh memory of Kimiyo running her hands over him sends his hormones into an immediate uproar. "I can't wait," Arthur sighs, stopping beside the wall and letting his forehead thump against it. "Jesus." He braces one of his hands against the faded wallpaper and uses the other to fumble with his zipper – this is yet another upside to being out of prison; you can jack off in true privacy. Granted, he'd rather be getting off with his chosen partner, but right this moment all he wants is to gain a measure of relief that will make sleeping in a cold bed feel not that terrible. 

A throat is cleared somewhere off to his right and Arthur pauses, trying to remember if he'd actually left the door unlocked, but when he slowly looks over… "I can come back if you're busy," Evan McCulloch grins, waggling his eyebrows as he hangs out of the hall mirror.

"God _damn_ it, Evan! Can't you knock first, or call, or something?" Arthur says irritably, pushing off from the wall and yanking his zipper back up. "What d'you want."

His friend laughs and climbs out of the mirror. "Thought yer lady'd be takin' care of that for ya. Got a lotta love t'give, aye?"

"Shut up," Arthur says automatically, but his irritation is already gone. "I've got some beer in the fridge, if you want a couple cans." Mirror Master gives him a thumbs up, ambling into the kitchen and hooks two cans out of the fridge, and shrugging when Arthur refuses to take one. "I've had enough to last me a while."

"Suit y'self," the other man says, popping the top of a can and slurping noisily. "Nice to see ya back out…lookin' sharp, too! Kimmi break out the dog clippers?"

Arthur laughs and sits down – he's still not that thrilled at having an unexpected visitor, but Evan will take his mind off of how desperately horny he is. "Basically. She had a little help, though."

"Right, her mini…listen, Art. I didn't exactly come to convey my regards, y'know? There's a new game in town an' fuck me sideways if it ain't comin' your way next."

"I haven't officially been released yet," Arthur reminds him. "Until that happens, any games can play themselves somewhere else."

Yet apparently that’s the exact reason why this so-called 'game' is now in his territory. "There's this new lad, calls himself Libra…ever heard of him?" When Arthur shakes his head, Evan sighs. "Well, you've got Lex headed your way to enlist your help; I owe it to ya t'spoil _that_ surprise. Didn't do himself any favors tryin' to leave you behind."

Arthur sits up straight, feeling the familiar stirrings of anger when Luthor's name is mentioned. "You're telling me he's going to try to contact me, after what he pulled?"

"Och, aye…he's countin' on you not wantin' to go back to Waller's open arms, he is."

"…and this is all on _Libra's_ behalf?"

Evan is looking distinctly uncomfortable, like he's said too much. "Yeah. Look, you didn't hear this from me, yeah?"

"What does Lenny think of it?"

"Len told him to piss right off," Mirror Master admits. "Still, he's got some good ideas. Could be nothin', could be _somethin'_. I'd better get on out; the boys say hi – stop by soon," he says hurriedly when Arthur opens his mouth to speak.

He's halfway to the mirror, beer in hand, by the time Arthur realizes that Evan's even moved. "Evan-"

"Gotta go!"

" _Evan_."

"…what?" is the exasperated response. "Wasn't s'posed to tell you about Luthor, okay?"

Being a tattle-tale isn't anything Evan's ever worried about in the past. There's something strange going on here, but Arthur knows it'll be easier to get the full story out of his friend if he's a lot more casual about it. "As long as you're sure that's all it is," Arthur says, and watches the look of relief that slides over Evan's face. "As long as you're still here, you might as well take the rest of that beer home with you; I don't want it…just don't share it with Digger."

"Heh. Sure thing." Evan flicks his fingers out from his forehead in a salute as he ducks into the kitchen to grab the offered beer, disappearing through the mirror with a yell of thanks. 

Arthur immediately gets up to take the mirror off of the wall and turn it around – the last thing he needs is another surprise visit, though he's not really in the mood to do anything now…the mere thought of Lex Luthor is enough to put him off sex for life. Why on earth would Luthor even begin to think it'd be a good idea to contact him about _anything?_ It doesn't make sense, but not much about their community ever has if you look closely enough- a healthy suspension of belief is practically a necessity in his line of work. A possibility that he's never truly considered before is that _Luthor_ could have been the one who had Grodd leave the ropes just loose enough…Arthur wouldn't put it past him to engineer the entire thing, but it'll be easy enough to check if Luthor really does contact him like Evan said he would. All he'll have to do is change the explanation of how he'd gotten himself free; if Luthor had truly left the ropes loose he'll quickly refute Arthur's claim of a knife left within hand's reach.

He turns his attention to Libra next; he hadn't lied when he'd told Mirror Master that he'd never heard of him before, but something about the name is familiar. Arthur shakes his head and wanders into the bathroom to check his goatee in the mirror – he has more important things to think about right now, and he's definitely not interested in whatever snake oil Lex is trying to sell. Arthur rubs his fingers along his bare neck, staring at the reflection he's still trying to get used to seeing…his signature beard still has a ways to go before it reaches its former glory, and it's been years since he's had this particular hairstyle, but he finally looks like he's back to his old self again.

Looks aren't everything, but Arthur figures that his court-ordered therapy sessions should start helping with that. Now he's out and able to find a therapist that doesn't answer to anyone in Belle Reve, maybe things will work better. It'll be nice to talk to someone who has a decent grasp of doctor-patient confidentiality, even if he's still slightly irritated that he's being forced to talk to anyone in the first place. Kimiyo had promised to look over that list and give him any recommendations, which will be nice because Arthur doesn't want to pick one at random and be stuck with someone he can't stand.

He's just decided to watch a movie before going to bed when someone else intrudes upon his privacy…but _this_ time, it's actually the one person he wants to see. "I couldn't sleep," Kimiyo says, looking slightly embarrassed. "I hope you don't mind."

"You're much better than a movie." Arthur tosses the remote control back down and beckons her over, taking in her outfit that consists of a bathrobe and absolutely nothing else. "You must be trying to kill me, though…what happened to actually _waiting?_ "

She shrugs, causing an interesting-looking gap in the front of her robe. "We just won't count this one. Will that work?"

"Sounds good to me," Arthur says, sliding onto the edge of his chair as Kimiyo takes her time walking towards him untying her robe. "I, uh, I missed you."

"Did you really?" Kimiyo slowly opens the front of the robe and his mouth goes dry at the sight of her. He's technically already seen everything, but each time she never fails to take his breath away. "I missed you, too." 

He somehow manages to make it across the room to her without tripping over his own feet, tugging his shirt off and sending it flying before reaching for her. Kimiyo comes into his arms, melting against him as Arthur slides his hands under the robe to touch her skin. "God, you feel amazing." He kisses her, and she twines her arms around his neck as she returns the kiss in desperate measure. In the dim light of his apartment, her body is already lit up like a candle.

Arthur takes his time kissing the sweetness of her mouth, running his hands over her soft curves worshipfully while Kimiyo unzips his jeans and starts to push them down his hips. Her hands move on him, and Arthur groans out his pleasure when her fingers curl around his stiff length. She stands on her toes and presses against him suddenly so that his cock is trapped between their bodies. "You'd better not have any bugs in here," Kimiyo mutters suddenly, and Arthur has to draw back so that he can laugh.

"I'll let you know if I see any roaches watching us."

"Very funny." Kimiyo grabs the bunched up fabric around his knees and bends to shove it down to his ankles, then stays there to touch her tongue to the tip of his cock. "And speaking of _feeling amazing_ …"

He rubs his knuckles across her cheekbone in a caress, drawing his breath in sharply when Kimiyo slowly takes him in her mouth so deep that he can feel the back of her throat. "Fuck." She rolls her eyes up to look at him, and slides her hands up his stomach as she draws back for air. Kimiyo kisses the tip of him once more and abruptly sucks him back in her mouth, making Arthur bite off a surprised yelp. Her fingers dig into his ass as she finds her rhythm, bobbing her head back and forth while he reminds his overeager body that they've still got the rest of the night ahead of them. Having her kneeling in front of him like this has got to be about ten times hotter than what she'd done to him in that club bathroom, and Arthur had thought that _that_ had to be one of the highlights of their sex life so far.

Kimiyo looks back up at him as if she knows exactly what she's thinking – and this is Kimiyo, so she probably does – and hums around him before drawing back. The movement is agonizingly slow, and she leans back just enough to show that a string of saliva still connects them. Her head comes forward as she takes him back into her mouth until he hits he back of her throat, then she releases him with an incredibly dirty slurping sound. “So.” She tilts her head as she looks up at him. “Bed?”

“Bed,” Arthur agrees, lifting her up into his arms for another kiss before toting her into his bedroom and tossing her onto the mattress. “Pretty sure these sheets are clean.”

“I don't give a damn,” Kimiyo says fervently, struggling out of her robe. “Shit, it's caught... _help!_ ”

Arthur laughs and helps her out by grasping the trailing edge of the bathrobe and giving it a tug, but unfortunately it makes the whole thing rip clear up the back. She can get out of it, though. “I'll buy you ten more,” he promises, pressing her back against the covers and nuzzling into her neck.

“I don't care,” she moans back, nails scratching at him as she urges him up over her. “Just get inside me.”

He reaches a hand down to grip the base of his cock and guide it into her waiting warmth. Her pussy is snug around him, and Arthur gives a harsh groan at how good it feels…he's been waiting at least a year to do this, and it's even better than he remembered. He pushes in until his pubic bone knocks against hers, and Kimiyo clamps down around him even tighter. “Goddamn,” Arthur says dazedly.

Kimiyo’s hands slide up his back as they roll onto their sides, and Arthur hooks an arm beneath her leg. "That's good," she sighs out, wriggling so that they're pressed together again. "But just…just roll over more?"

"Sure, yeah." He's forced to pull out so that he can settle onto his back, but then Kimiyo's mounting him and sinking down until they're grinding against each other like their lives depend on it. She brushes her hair out of her face and starts riding him, her body flushed with pleasurable exertion and glowing brighter than ever. Arthur isn't that thrilled because it definitely means there will be a few second-degree burns in his future, but he can handle it. It’s his job to make sure she gets off so he’ll do whatever it takes. Arthur braces his feet against the mattress and pushes up just as Kimiyo slides down.

He can already feel her power sinking down through his skin as if searching for what’s no longer there to respond to it, so that it coils inside him. The pressure isn’t exactly painful – not yet, anyway – and Arthur can see _something_ connecting them that he can’t quite explain. It’s either mist or solid, tangible one moment and seemingly imaginary the next; he doesn’t want to distract Kimiyo by calling attention to it and whatever it is certainly doesn’t seem to be hurting her. Even her _hair_ looks like it’s lit up like a candle.

Kimiyo pushes a hand through her hair in another attempt to get it out of her face, stretching back so that he’s offered an unobstructed view of her breasts. Arthur slides his palms up the sweat-slick plane of her stomach to cup them, teasing at her nipples before he drops his hands to grasp her hips and flip her onto the mattress. Her hair falls behind her in a silken cascade as her head hits the pillow, and Kimiyo moans as Arthur thrusts back between her spread legs. She locks her ankles behind the small of his back and urges him on with a mixture of whimpers and bilingual pleading. It’s so much _better_ than he remembers it ever being, and Arthur can feel the pleasure intensifying until all he wants to do is come. “I’m close,” Kimiyo whines, her nails digging into his skin as she shoves up against him. “Just…just a little more…oh _God-!_ ”

She tightens around him like a vise when she reaches orgasm, and the room is so bright it’s as if she’s ‘ported them both to the surface of the sun – Arthur knows he should start feeling pain any moment now because there’s no way he could escape it, but all he can feel is pleasure so intense that his body gives in to the sensation. He closes his eyes against the glare and the pressure of Kimiyo’s power flowing through him, and shoves into her a final time before his own climax hits.

“…Arthur? _Arthur!_ ”

He can hear her calling to him like she’s at the far end of a tunnel, which doesn’t make sense because wasn’t she just underneath him? Arthur doesn’t know and he also doesn’t care, because he still feels so good. “Jesus, Miko,” is all he can say, rubbing the back of his head back and forth against the pillow slowly. When did he get on his back? Did he roll off of her? He must have, Arthur reasons. He opens his eyes to look at her, and she actually looks _upset_. “I wasn’t _that_ bad, was I?”

“What the hell was that?” Kimiyo demands, her sharp tone at odds at how vigorously he’s being cuddled. “You scared me half to death!”

He guesses that it really _was_ that bad. “Uh. Sorry? Miko, what-”

“You don’t remember?” She asks him, drawing back to look in his face. “You passed out. For a minute I thought you’d died, Artie.”

“Well, that’s…embarrassing.” And that’s putting it mildly. Thank God she’s not the gossiping type. “I, uh, didn’t think it’d been _that_ long.” He sits up and rubs at the back of his neck, stealing a measuring glance at her – Kimiyo doesn’t look like she’s about to laugh at him for it, either, which is also something he’s thankful for. “Sorry, babe.”

Kimiyo looks at him intently, and now he can see that the tough act is her trying to keep from crying. “You don’t remember… _anything_ about what just happened? I seriously thought I’d killed you.” She confesses being so emotional about this being the first time they’ve made love since he’d been jailed that she’s forgotten to rein in her powers. “The light just- you _absorbed_ it.”

“If that had happened, I really _would_ be dead right now. It probably just looked like I did,” Arthur says, brushing aside the possibility. “At least I didn’t black out because of inexperience, or something. I feel better knowing it was your fault.”

Her eyes have a dangerous gleam in them. “Arthur!”

“C’mon, I feel fine. I mean, you’ve totally butchered the afterglow, but I’m fine. Besides, I always said you have a killer pussy,” Arthur says, watching her mouth drop open in shock a few seconds before she tries to smack him for it. “In fact, I’m almost ready for Round Two now you’ve scratched the itch on that trigger finger of yours-”

Kimiyo gets him with a pillow, and he wrestles her back down beneath him before cutting off her indignant response with a long kiss. “You’re such a smartass,” she says, drawing her hands over his shoulders and down his arms before sliding them back up to his face where she pulls him down for another kiss.

“Smartest ass you know.” Arthur rolls off of her and she cuddles up to him instantly, hooking a leg over his. “Seriously though, that really _could_ be dangerous. I could probably make something that would channel off the excess energy…”

“And he’s off with yet another invention,” Kimiyo teases. “Make sure to build some kind of meter so that I can critique your performance, and no fair making it measure the low end of the spectrum just so every time it’s off the charts.”

“How dare you!” Arthur laughs and wraps his arms around her tightly, intent upon proving that there’s nothing at all wrong with his performance. Their laughter soon shifts into low-voiced murmurs and moans, and Arthur sets about distracting both her and himself from wondering just how his body could possibly absorb any of Kimiyo’s photon energy. Right now, it’s enough for him that Kimiyo is here with him and they’re together again…everything is as it should be.

It’s perfect.


End file.
